Kelley Johnson: Dreaming by Bruno David Gallery

KELLEY JOHNSON DREAMING

KELLEY JOHNSON: DREAMING February 9 - March 10, 2007 Bruno David Gallery 3721 Washington Boulevard Saint Louis, 63108 Missouri, U.S.A. info@brunodavidgallery.com www.brunodavidgallery.com Director: Bruno L. David This catalogue was published in conjunction with the exhibition Kelley Johnson: Dreaming. Editor: Bruno L. David Catalog Designer: Yoko Kiyoi Design Assistants: Sage A. David and Claudia R. David Printed in USA All works courtesy of Bruno David Gallery and Kelley Johnson Artwork photos by Bruno David Gallery staff Cover Image: Kelley Johnson. Untitled VIII (Detail), 2006. Oil on Canvas, 74 x 60 inches (187.96 x 152.40 cm) Copyright ÂŠ 2007 Bruno David Gallery, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of Bruno David Gallery, Inc.

Contents

Essay by Lindsey Stouffer Afterword by Bruno L. David Checklist of the Exhibition Biography

Essay by Lindsey Stouffer 2

My first impression of Kelley Johnson’s current work for Dreaming was that someone had forged an artful collaboration between Francis Bacon and playful child. I wanted to see more. The rich tension of painterly beauty and horror collides with episodes of playful marks and colors that surface and recede throughout the territory of the canvas. To see these works is to be absorbed into an internal landscape completed by the viewer. The paintings are large, richly saturated canvases. Blues and greens draw you deep into the work towards an ever present yet shifting horizon. Then these flat, candy colored marks intermittently appear. Sometimes they pop up behind the horizon, at other times they are stuck right to the surface. They reference wallpaper, rainbows, or registration marks. Together, a cycle is completed that plunges the viewer deep into the work and then plucks you right back to the surface and back again. The places in these paintings set up a context for a figural form that appears throughout. It seems as if the “figure” is our point of reference. When I saw these works, I couldn’t resist putting myself in the place of the figure which appears sometimes as a simple evocative mark and at others is a dominant presence. Kelley’s previous paintings show more places that are naturalistic; the ones that I saw were interiors, which was interesting since the current works also seem like interiors of sorts. His current work taps directly into his faculty with paint, his beautiful palette, and use of light and ability to evoke more than is depicted. The record of many layers of paint suggests moments in time, as if each painting is really a place along a continuum. These paintings are powerfully alluring and subtly disturbing in the way that dreams can be. --Lindsey Stouffer Lindsey Stouffer is a sculptor. She currently teaches at the Sam Fox School of Design and Visuals Art at Washington University in St. Louis. Her latest monumental public artwork is located at the Forsyth Station Metro in Clayton (St. Louis). Ms. Stouffer will have an exhibition in May 2007 at the Bruno David Gallery. This essay is one in a series of the gallery’s exhibitions written by fellow gallery artists and friends.

Afterword by Bruno L. David 4

I am pleased to exhibit a new series of painting by Kelley Johnson at the Bruno David Gallery. Support for the creation of significant new works of art has been the core to the mission and program of the Bruno David Gallery since its founding. Kelley Johnsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dramatic and compelling paintings makes him one the most impressive artist of the gallery. In this recent work, Kelley experiments and explores the possibilities within the confines of oil paint. He creates paintings that can be read as figurative or abstract. Some of the paintings look like images from fantasy books and comics others look like childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s books while others resemble figures from popular myths. This allows for the use of observational painting techniques along with ideas about abstract image making. Kelley Johnson received his B.F.A. from the Parsons School of Design, and his Master of Fine Arts from the Indiana University (2001). He also studied at the Yale Summer School of Art, Painting Fellow (1998). He lives and works in St. Louis, Missouri. --Bruno L. David, Director.

Checklist of the Exhibition and Images

Untitled VII, 2006-07 Oil on canvas 74 x 60 inches (187.96 x 152.40 cm)

Untitled VIII, 2006-07 Oil on canvas 74 x 60 inches (187.96 x 152.40 cm)

Untitled IX, 2007 Oil on canvas 74 x 60 inches (187.96 x 152.40 cm)

Untitled X, 2006 Oil on canvas 74 x 60 inches (187.96 x 152.40 cm)

Untitled XI, 2007 Oil on canvas 74 x 60 inches (187.96 x 152.40 cm)

Untitled XII, 2007 Oil on canvas 28 x 22 inches (71.12 x 55.88 cm)

Untitled XVI, 2006 Oil on canvas 74 x 60 inches (187.96 x 152.40 cm)

Untitled XVII, 2006-7 Oil on canvas 74 x 60 inches (187.96 x 152.40 cm)

Untitled XVIII, 2006 Oil on canvas 74 x 60 inches (187.96 x 152.40 cm)

Untitled XX, 2007 Oil on canvas 74 x 91 inches (187.96 x 231.14 cm)

Kelley Johnson: Dreaming at Bruno David Gallery, 2007 (Installation View - detail)

KELLEY JOHNSON Born: 1973, Houston, Texas Lives and works in Saint Louis, Missouri EDUCATION M.F.A. B.F.A.

2001, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 1999, Parsons School of Design, New York, New York 1998, Yale Summer School of Art, Painting Fellow, Norfolk, Connecticut

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2007

Bruno David Gallery, Kelley Johnson: Dreaming, Saint Louis, Missouri

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2007 2006 2005 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998

Painters from Saint Louis, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, Missouri Overview, Bruno David Gallery, Saint Louis, Missouri Inaugural Exhibition, Bruno David Gallery, Saint Louis, Missouri Once Upon A Time, Greenlease Gallery, Rockhurst University, Kansas City, MO Group Show, Webster University, St. Louis, MO Group Exhibition, Ohr Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi, MS Group Exhibition, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL Thesis Show, Indiana University Museum, Bloomington, IN Group Show, S.O.F.A. Gallery, Bloomington, IN Group Show, Parsons School of Design in Paris, Paris, France Group Show, S.O.F.A. Gallery, Bloomington, IN Summer Show, Yale at Norfolk, Norfolk, CT

BIBLIOGRAPHY Miller, Rob. Cooper, Ivy. Bonetti, David. Crone, Tomas. Beall, Hugh. Miller, Rob. Beall, Hugh. Griffin, Bill Bonetti, David. Sieloff, Alison. Bonetti, David. Murphy, Anne.

“’Over hung’ show or ‘Hung over’ critic?” Saintlouisart, November 17, 2005. “Bruno David Gallery: Inaugural Exhibition”, Riverfront Times, November 9, 2005. “Bruno David Gallery”, St. Louis Post Dispatch, November 9, 2005 “Bruno David to Open on Friday”, 52nd City, October 2005 “The Bruno buzz”, West End Word, October 26, 2005 “Bruno David Gallery: Inaugural Exhibition”, Saintlouisart, October 25, 2005 “Bruno David Gallery: Inaugural Exhibition”, Illusion Junkie, October 25, 2005. Web Video. http://illusionjunkie.blogspot.com/2005/10/bruno-david-inaugural-exhibition.html “Bruno David Gallery: Inaugural Exhibition”, St. Louis Post Dispatch, October 20, 2005 “Grand Grand Center”, Riverfront Times, October 19, 2005 “Gallery musical chairs”, St. Louis Post Dispatch, October 1, 2005 “Art News”, The Healthy Planet, September 2005

ARTISTS Margaret Adams Ingo Baumgarten Dickson Beall Laura Beard Elaine Blatt Nanette Boileau Martin Brief Lisa K. Blatt Shawn Burkard Bunny Burson Carmon Colangelo Alex Couwenberg Jill Downen Yvette Drury Dubinsky Eleanor Dubinsky Maya Escobar Corey Escoto

Beverly Fishman Damon Freed William Griffin Joan Hall Takashi Horisaki Kim Humphries Kelley Johnson Howard Jones (Estate) Chris Kahler Bill Kohn (Estate) Katharine Kuharic Leslie Laskey Sandra Marchewa Peter Marcus Kathryn Neale Moses Nornberg

Patricia Olynyk Robert Pettus Daniel Raedeke Chris Rubin de la Borbolla Cherie Sampson Frank Schwaiger Charles Schwall Christina Shmigel Thomas Sleet Buzz Spector Lindsey Stouffer The Fancy Christ Cindy Tower Ian Weaver Brett Williams Ken Worley

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