Axia Modern Art: Transmetropole

Ken JOHNSON

Anecdotes and Allegories

4 - 27 September 2010

Arcanum (Revealed) 2010, acrylic on linen, 150 x 150 cm
Harlequin and Donkey (After Tallow) 2010, acrylic on linen, 122 x 92 cm
Masquerade 2010, acrylic on linen, 76 x 102 cm
Role Play 2010, acrylic on linen, 120 x 140 cm
Two Harlequins 2009, acrylic on linen, 122 x 122 cm
The Madrigalist 2009, acrylic on linen, 122 x 122 cm
Troupe 2010, acrylic on linen, 92 x 122 cm
Pantomine 2009, acrylic on linen, 92 x 122 cm
La Mostra 2009, acrylic on linen, 80 x 90 cm
Ephemera 2010, acrylic on linen, 55 x 44 cm
Samadhi 2010, acrylic on linen, 100 x 100 cm
Stella Performance (in C minor) 2010, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm
Sakya & Jantar Mantar 2010, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 200 cm
Rajput Circles 2010, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 90 cm

About the Exhibition

"Anecdotes and Allegories"

Ken Johnson is a storyteller whose mastery of visual allegory is sublime. In this exhibition, where the grandeur and aloofness of Venice reaches out and interweaves with the mystique and antiquity of India, he takes the viewer on a journey that is intensely private, spiritual but also physical.

While Venice and India appear to be places of extreme contrasts, Ken manages, through his use of bold geometrical shapes, inanimate objects, masks and sinuous human figures, to uncover that which unites them and in doing so, plunges the viewer into an other-worldy experience where meaning is fractured, allusive and yet immediate.

Embedded in the lines, angles and dusky tones of the works are stories within stories ' of the complexity of human nature and our proclivity for adopting identities and hiding the self through masking, of those who have given life to his artistic expression as well as the places and people who inspire him.

Such is the power of his visual narrative that we all share in his voyage that embraces and transcends place, space and time, allowing us to simultaneously embark on our own. Through visual anecdote and rich allegory, Ken elicits visceral and emotional responses that mean the journey is not only layered but resonates long after you believe it to have ended.

This is a hauntingly beautiful collection from an original and profound storyteller.

Dr. Karen Brooks, Associate Professor, Southern Cross University, NSW

BIOGRAPHY

Ken Johnson was born is Sydney, New South Wales in 1950. He studied at the National Art School, Sydney. He is a prolific landscape painter and sculptor who has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Hong Kong, China, Switzerland and the United States since 1970. In 2008 Johnson had a major survey exhibition in Sydney celebrating 40 years of painting. He was also invited to participate in the 2008 1st International Painting Symposium in Damascus, Syria.

Ken Johnson has been a finalist in several award exhibitions including the Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of NSW and the prestigious Archibald Prize. In 2007 he was recipient of the Regional Art Award in the Thursday Plantation Sculpture Show. Ken Johnson's work is part of several high profile public, corporate and private collections in Australia, England, Japan, Israel, Syria and the United States.