Chris Johanson Equations

Altman Siegel is pleased to present Equations, Chris Johanson’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. This show is a continuation of the multifaceted artistic output Johanson calls Life Arts, which includes painting, drawing, sculpture, installation and music. The exhibition is comprised of new paintings made on recycled materials. The paintings expand the artist’s use of idiosyncratic figures, developing acute observations of the human condition through detailed environments and the vibrant use of color. Depicting seemingly ordinary people in complex exterior worlds and scenarios, the paintings engage in political, social and philosophical dialogues around a fraught contemporary existence. The figures speak and interact with one another as well as the viewer.

The artist spends considerable time with the repurposed wood he paints on. Before making a mark, he passes hours meditating on the surface of the material. This time allows for his personal thoughts and emotions to shape the work’s subject matter, directing compositions to articulate whatever it is that’s on his mind. In making these paintings, Johanson developed a strong physical and emotional relationship to the artworks, moving the paintings from the studio wall, to the floor, and back in order to spend time sleeping next to them, gaining additional perspective on his work. Johanson’s reverence for his approach allows him to take time to consider collective observations of his surroundings as well as to pull from his own experiences.

For the past twenty-five years, Johanson has exhibited his work in galleries and museums across the United States and the world, developing a vast creative universe that sees and considers humanity in all its forms. The apparent freshness and immediacy of the work belies a considered methodology that Johanson has been carefully mastering over the course of his career. The influence of Johanson’s diverse artistic practice on a younger generation cannot be overstated. His interdisciplinary approach shapes a unique cosmology that continues to inspire a greater consideration of art and life.

Chris Johanson (b. 1968) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Recent solo exhibitions include the Portland Museum of Modern Art; Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen; the Modern Institute, Glasgow; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; MoCA Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles; SFMoMA, San Francisco and Malmö Konsthall. Group exhibitions include The Whitney Biennial, New York; the 4th Berlin Biennial; the 8th Istanbul Biennial; the New Museum, New York; MoMA, New York; White Columns, New York, the Drawing Center, New York; Deste Foundation, Athens; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; SITE Santa Fe; the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; the Seattle Art Museum; the Vancouver Art Gallery; CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco. Johanson will be included in the Berkeley Art Museum’s inaugural exhibition Architecture of Life opening January 31, 2016. Chris Johanson, a monograph recently published by Phaidon, features texts by Bob Nickas, Corrina Peipon and Julie Deamer. For more information please contact the gallery at 415-576-9300 or info@altmansiegel.com.