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About Douglas Johnson
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THE PAINTINGS OF DOUGLAS JOHNSON are as individual and enriching
as is the life he has chosen for himself. Living in a beautiful, though always challenging,
corner of New Mexico, he creates meticulously composed and painted worlds of wonder
which enthrall the discerning viewer. Johnson paints in small formats, filled with
astonishing detail and rendered in casein, a medium which permits him to achieve
the precision and rich color which characterize his work.
He often creates a series of images, such as his recent paintings of flowers. His
current work includes a number of birds, magical in detail and accurate enough to
satisfy the most demanding ornithologist. These paintings feature lavish backgrounds,
ranging from jungle-bound pre-Columbian ruins to an everyday scene depicting the
re-plastering of his adobe studio by a northern New Mexican family.
Living in an area lacking in many of the amenities of modem life, Johnson refreshes
himself and his work with frequent travels which inevitably provide new subjects
for his paintings. In Mexico, Peru, Burma and Thailand, he found the handsome, brown-skinned
people and exotic locales which have been a major source of inspiration for his
work.
Johnson is an avid student of art history who acknowledges deriving inspiration
from sources as varied as the works of the Old Masters Mantegna and Caravaggio,
and Navajo artists Harrison Begay, Andrew Tsinajinme and Hoke Denetsosie. A recent
painting titled The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, which is a tribute to Mantegna,
points the way to his current preoccupation with Hispanic subjects.
Driving to Douglas Johnson's home, one passes through the small community of Abiquiu
and is reminded of Georgia O'Keeffe, who also chose to five in this remote part
of New Mexico, and her life dictum: "rake a space and fill it with beauty."
In several recent works, Johnson has selected a horizontal rectangular space which
he first divides with a beautiful fine.
He then adds splendidly unrelated things which happen to intrigue him at the moment.
In one piece a vase of flowers, a section of celestial sky, and a Kachina-like figure
riding on a blackbird are part of a composition, much like a collage, but in which
the objects are painted rather than cut and pasted.
Douglas Johnson is a maverick in today's art world, a completely original artist
whose life and work am light-years away from the standard work of big-city artists
who currently dominate the art scene. It is a pleasure to experience the individuality
and magic which are part of the continuing production of his intensely personal
works of art.
Robert A. Ewing
Former Director,
Fine Arts Division,
Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe.
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