Ben Johnson: Spirit of Place - Paintings 1969-2015 by Hanna Sorrell

BEN JOHNSON SPIRIT OF PLACE PAINTINGS 1969-2015

Southampton City Art Gallery

Contents

Foreword

Tim Craven Conversation Ben Johnson and Helen Waters

Paintings

Solo and Group Exhibitions, Collections and Commissions

121

Picture credits

128

Ben Johnson in his studio 2010

Foreword

I have to thank John Salt for introducing me to Ben Johnson at the opening of the magnificent Photorealism: 50 Years of Hyperrealistic Painting exhibition at the City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, in December 2013. Curated in Germany (and curiously not to be seen in the USA), Birmingham took the show because John Salt was born and educated there and is one of the original 16 celebrated American Photorealists. As a young art student in the mid-1970s I saw an exhibition of John’s work at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham and it changed my life. His large, colourful and poetic paintings of his trademark bashed-up automobiles mesmerised me and still do. Painted with an airbrush and lace-like paper stencils, they confront the relationship between photography and painting head-on. The Photorealism: 50 Years of Hyperrealistic Painting exhibition included three British artists, John Salt, Ben Johnson and Clive Head. An English sensibility was perhaps discernible in the work of these artists, not present in the American work in whose company they hung. Ben’s superb Looking Back to Richmond House, 2011 and The Rookery, 1995 stood out for their architectural understanding, clarity and sublime surface and were two of my favourite paintings in the exhibition On the very instant of our meeting I knew that I wanted to see Ben’s work hanging in Southampton City Art Gallery, although I had no idea whether it might just be one work or more. I was delighted that Ben’s response on seeing Southampton’s beautiful galleries was immediately enthusiastic. This superlative exhibition, Spirit of Place, is the result. This exhibition of around 45 works, the artist’s first ever retrospective, examines Ben’s prolific artistic career spanning 54 years. It traces the evolution of his unique art practice from his initial interest in German Expressionism and the human figure, his ambition to find personal direction through his discovery of contemporary architecture in New York, Ben Johnson in his studio 2011

to his innovative use of photography as a tool for exploring geometry and 7

paint. Celebrated especially for his epic and minutely detailed cityscapes,

as Piero della Francesca and Vermeer. His cityscapes are painted from

Ben has recently become interested in exploring the potential for

elevated viewpoints and artistic licence is employed to create ideal views

architectural space to evoke the past.

of subject cities. During a residency at the National Gallery in 2010, Ben

Born in Llandudno, North Wales, in 1946 Ben was educated at Chester

painted a stunning view across London from the roof of the gallery that

and Wrexham art schools before attending the Royal College of Art in

referenced an obvious relationship with Canaletto’s The Stonemason’s

London. His first solo exhibition was held in New York in 1969 and he

Yard. During a six week period, over 73,000 visitors came to watch the

staged the inaugural show at the new upstairs gallery at the ICA in 1973.

artist at work.

Ben is the only painter to have been made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal

Despite these two high profile and hugely successful projects Ben’s

Institute of British Architects for his contribution to the promotion and

work is not as well-known as it should be. Most of his output has been

understanding of contemporary architecture.

commissioned for private collections and so is rarely seen in UK public

In all fields of human activity, there are those who push at boundaries

galleries. This exhibition aims to correct this oversight and affirm Ben

and achieve ever more extraordinary results. We know that the 100 metre

Johnson as one of the most remarkable and original artists working today.

sprint record will always be beaten and that continued scientific and

It has been a very great pleasure to work with Ben and his wife Sheila

medical breakthroughs are a dead cert. The death of painting has been

on this exhibition. My colleagues and I would like to thank them for all their

much proclaimed, but because the possibilities of what paint can be made

help, commitment and enthusiasm to ensure its realisation. We are also

to do are infinite in the hands of artists, it keeps coming back to life. In this

hugely grateful to the lenders without whose generosity the show would

respect Ben, like the sprinter (though that he is not) has raised the bar in

not have been possible. In addition, Ben has extensively collaborated in the

his methodology of paint application and for what a painting might be and

production of this catalogue to accompany the exhibition and we owe

look like.

Helen Waters of the Alan Cristea Gallery, London, a very big thank-you for

Ben’s pursuit of detail and accuracy in his subject together with

her fascinating and revealing interview with Ben.

immaculate surface has become ever increasingly refined and his output

It is my hope that some young artists-in-the-making will see this

has slowed from about five paintings a year to one every two years at

exhibition and be inspired to take the baton on into the future.

present. The employment of assistants to help spread the immense workload (the number of hours involved are staggering) and computer

Tim Craven

technology was a natural and vital progression. Each painting is a highly

Curator of Art, Southampton City Art Gallery

complex project, akin to an architect designing a building, involving mathematics and precision as well, of course, as aesthetics. In 1994 Ben began a series of vast urban panoramas, including Hong Kong, Jerusalem, and Zurich. In 2008 he painted Liverpool when it was the European City of Culture. Over three years, Ben consulted with architects, historians and the public before working with 6 full-time and many part-time assistants, using over 3,000 reference photographs, to complete the painting in public during a residency at the Walker Art Gallery. Despite his use of contemporary technology, Ben belongs to an artistic tradition that dates back to the Renaissance and the work of artists such 8

overleaf The Liverpool Cityscape 2008 (work in progress)

Conversation Ben Johnson and Helen Waters 1 May 2015

HW: Ben, you’ve been painting and exhibiting your work since the late 1960s. Can we discuss the development of your practice in terms of both subject matter and technique? What strikes me about the early work is how expressionistic it is – There is a lot of colour, emotion and activity. Looking back at that early work how does it make you feel? BJ: Well, I realise how very immature they are; how immature I was. I left school at 14 because I was an academic write-off. I went to art school when I was just 15, so I was much younger than any of the other students, and I couldn’t transfer to another course as they wouldn’t take you until you were 18, so I was basically on a foundation course for 3 years. When I tried to take various courses at the two art schools I attended, Chester and Wrexham, they would say ‘well you’ve already done that’ and so I basically became a self-taught artist. I say ‘artist’ because I had committed to go to art school, but I didn’t know then whether I was an illustrator, a graphic designer, an industrial designer – I just loved making things, but increasingly I was painting and drawing on my own. I then went for an interview for a degree course, but as I had already done 3 or 4 years at art school I was told to apply to the Royal College of Art in London. I went to the Royal College, put my foot in the door and said, ‘please give me an interview’ and they gave me a place. It meant that at 19 I went to the Royal College, where the average age was 25 or over, and all of these people had sorted their practice out, they knew where they were going. For me, it was just the beginning of my commitment to being a painter. I was surrounded by abstraction, particularly influenced by New York and American painting and I felt (as a boy from North Wales and not very well read or experienced in art theory) out of my depth. I needed a helping hand and fortunately I discovered the National Gallery, Van de Rohe Building with Barcelona Chair 1972 (detail)

Rembrandt, Vermeer; and I also discovered the Tate and Max Beckmann. All of a sudden I could see an alternative to abstraction and a form of 13

painting that was about human beings, who I still believe are the beginning and end of everything. In life, everything is about relationships, about being human. At the age of 21 I was lucky enough to be offered a one-man show on Madison Avenue in New York. An American collector had bought two paintings from my RCA degree show. A dealer saw them hanging on her wall in New York, called me and offered me a show. This was of my German Expressionist type of work (Max Beckmann meets George Grosz with a bit of Francis Bacon thrown in!) and I looked at the work on the gallery wall and I realised that this wasn’t me at all; these were props that I was using. The show was a complete sell-out with a waiting list for new paintings; I left New York after six months with enough money to set myself up in a studio in London and I then had a two-year period of exorcising Expressionism, but I didn’t have to shift far geographically and time-wise to find the next inspiration, because I had always been fascinated by the Bauhaus. So, all of a sudden I am throwing out German Expressionism, I’m looking at the work of Klee, Kandinsky, Malevich, Tatlin – people who were concerned with the fundamentals of the construction of

Untitled 1969 54 x 38 cm | 21 x 15 in Charcoal on paper Private collection

a picture surface. And that’s when I realised that I had scrapbooks going back to the age of 14 where – yes – I had cut out a few paintings from Beckman, Grosz, Piero della Francesca, but I had also been building up these portfolios of books with images of architecture and, having lived in a modern, vibrant city like New York for six months, plus desperately looking for a new direction, I realised it was in front of me all the time: Architecture could become my subject matter. I was committed to making realistic paintings – realistic is not a word I want to use really, but I had a language that was known to a number of people; you didn’t have to read the book to understand perspective. Figurative, representational presentations of objects in space were easily accessible to a very broad audience, and that I found very attractive, and architecture I found extremely stimulating: I admire people that make things and don’t break things. Your early works were populated and you have talked about how important this human presence is in your work. Your paintings of the 14

Untitled 1969 182 x 183 cm | 72 x 72 in Oil on canvas Collection of the artist

built environment are now devoid of any figures in the actual painting

painting, whether it is technical ambition or ambition (for the want of a

itself. Was it a natural progression for you to paint empty spaces? Do

better word) which is intellectual or emotional.

you feel that a human presence is implicit in the work somehow? Or is that not important to you?

The invitation to a journey that you have picked up on is also a recognition of the dilemma I had when, as a student in the ’60s, you were challenged seriously if you did not make abstract paintings. I wouldn’t say

It is not only implicit, it is fundamental. You don’t get buildings without

all my paintings are abstract, but what I offer is an invitation to a journey of

people and what I usually see in a building is the pattern of intention

discovery. There is subject matter, which stimulates an investigation. There

behind the building. But people are so important; I don’t feel I am good

is a vanishing point, which pulls people into the painting. I have watched

enough to paint people. You’ve got to have a very special sensibility and

people go closer to the painting and then they step back and they find the

humility to paint people well and I don’t feel I have that ability. However

right position to view the work, but what they discover is that it is a

I felt I did have the sensitivity to pick up on the ambition of architects and

complete illusion: all they are looking at is paint on canvas, and what they

also I think I do have an innate sense of geometry and objects in space.

are doing is going through the dance of finding their own place in front of

Geometry is the foundation of my work and something I find deeply

that painting, making a decision on whether it connects with their own

spiritual.

experiences. With staircases, often the top of the staircase is where there

For me, painting is an object of meditation, of tranquility. Perspective is

is most light, so it is an invitation to go into the light. I get no enjoyment

usually, for most artists, based on one vanishing point. I have spent many

out of paintings that are meant to entertain. It sounds possibly pretentious,

years studying Buddhism, the morality and philosophy of Buddhism, but

and I am sorry for that, but I believe that art is to enlighten, it’s not light

also meditation. Meditation is also about one-pointedness; it is about

entertainment.

having an object where one concentrates one’s mind and discovers inner peace.

Some of the subjects in your work are real places and others are imagined. Can we talk about that distinction, in fact whether you make

Your paintings often contain images of doorways, staircases, windows,

a distinction between real and imagined? I find it quite interesting that

corridors through buildings. For me, it seems you are inviting the viewer

some are obviously recognisable places that we all know, whereas

to move through these buildings with you, to go on a journey somehow

others you might half-know or think you know...

through the work, whether it’s an imagined journey, or referring to a memory of a place. Why does this subject matter occupy you so much?

Every painting I make is based on the experience of a real space. And I do

You aren’t painting a closed door, you’re not painting the outside of a

use photography. First and foremost I am constantly looking for a space,

building, you’re actually looking inside, looking through...

or place, that touches a raw nerve. I then look for a way to experience it, remember it, and that’s just by standing quietly, finding a spot where an

I’d almost called this exhibition at Southampton City Art Gallery A Journey.

image is transferred onto the back of the brain and will remain there. And

And that is what my work is. I have been lucky enough to be able to be in

then I do need to record that, and I will often go to great lengths to take

my studio nearly every day for the last 45 years, and every day I don’t

the perfect photograph. Increasingly, over the years, I have gone from one

know what is going to happen, it is a constant journey of discovery;

photograph to ten photographs to a thousand photographs per painting.

discovering my own craft and practice, discovering new possibilities and

All of that information is then reassessed in the quietness of the studio.

the possibility of raising the bar in terms of my own ambition within the 16

So, going back to whether they are real or imagined places, they are all 17

real, but always within the photographic image there is something missing.

elaborate patterns on the surface. These developed from a painting I made

Then I might remember there is something from another set of

of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, which had 30,000 visible tiles. In

photographs that I can bring into that image. Next comes the drawing.

the world of Islam, pattern is profoundly important and the tiles are a

I can go way beyond the photograph on the drawing board or the

combination of craft, science, mathematics and philosophy. I wanted to be

computer, where I tend to draw these days. The drawing can be intensified

respectful to the originators of that building so I drew every single tile.

and new elements can be brought in – I can bring more reflections onto a

There were 14 tile patterns visible but also within each tile there were up

surface for example, so it then becomes alienating, because we know that

to seven colours and I thought, ‘how can I do this’? Masking out is a very

buildings don’t have that amount of reflection, and if they do are they real

elaborate and complicated process that I used to do with tape but I realised

buildings or are they imagined buildings? So none of my paintings are of

that sign writers were using a technology that I could utilise. I had to

real spaces, they are all an evolving memory that is then crystallised within

abandon the drawing board, pen and pencil, and learn to draw on a

paint on canvas.

computer, so I could then send a mathematical file through to a cutter, which produces vinyl masks (or stencils). The drawing is not done by the

Can we talk about process? It may not be important to you, but people

computer; the computer assists me in my drawing.

always want to know ‘how is this made’? Process is very important to me because I am a craftsperson that aspires to perfect my craft to such an extent that it becomes art. I have great

Far Horizon 2009 Pen and ink on Aquarelle Arches paper Drawing 86 x 68 cm | 34 x 27 in Private collection

Mirador de Lindaraja 2012 (work in progress)

And then, the surface of the canvas is painted using these stencils. Yes. In my last year at my first art school, I spent a lot of time in the print

respect for people who use their hands, whether they are laying bricks,

room, making lithographs and screenprints, and all of these processes are

sweeping the street, making pieces of furniture or making a painting or

about making stencils, which is the way I work now. So, although my

music. Now, when I was an Expressionist, my goodness – I over-indulged in

paintings are unique pieces, they are more or less using the same process

being a young, struggling artist! I used to wear sandals in the winter, I used

that a printmaker would go through.

to go on slag heaps in North Wales with sticks of charcoal and draw until

A drawing is made on a computer using my photographic research.

my hands were bleeding. I just loved all of that commitment to the mark.

Individual areas are isolated (in any current painting there may be 200–

But it was a very theatrical and immature route I was taking.

300). A set of stencils is cut for each area (10–40 or more, depending how many colours per area). The stencils are ‘weeded’ individually (the shapes

When I discovered that I needed to find out who Ben Johnson was, I thought the first thing I had to do was remove myself from the painting.

cut in the vinyl are removed, leaving holes for the paint to go through)

I needed more objectivity, less self-indulgence, so I bought myself a spray

using a scalpel. This can be an intensely laborious process. For example, in

gun which meant that I no longer touched the surface of the painting. And

the Room of the Revolutionary painting there are two chairs. Each chair

that meant that I had to mask areas off, as I had become more and more

needed 40 stencils. Each stencil took two days to weed. This demanded

committed to geometry (that’s what my drawings are – objects floating on

160 days of intense concentrated work before any painting could begin –

a flat surface) and as I became more and more interested in what was seen

and the two chairs are just one small area of the painting. It is therefore

as an industrial process (spray painting) I then allowed it to go further and

essential that I employ assistants.

further, and I will now use any technology that is appropriate that will allow me to realise my ambition. For example, a painting I am currently making has enormously 18

Tokyo Pool Reflection 2009 Inkjet print on Aquarelle Arches paper Drawing 77 x 57 cm | 31 x 23 in Private collection

The Dome of the Rock 2004 (work in progress, removing vinyl stencil from the surface of the canvas)

I stick the adhesive-backed stencil onto the canvas and I apply paint through the cut holes. The stencils have to be registered (placed onto the canvas consecutively, one on top of the other, extremely precisely) and 19

Approaching the Mirador 2012 (detail)

Mirador de Lindaraja 2012 (work in progress)

painted one by one. Each area of the painting is gradually built up like this.

It wasn’t until I had a show at the National Gallery (at the end of 2010),

I use acrylic paint pre-mixed by hand (another job my assistants can help

that Juliet Rix, a very sensitive and interesting journalist, came to talk to

with) so that I have a large palette of colours ready for me to choose from.

me about my work and I gave her some art speak and she said, ‘now tell

Increasingly I have gone back to touching the surface; instead of always

me about your childhood’. And my childhood was, for me, terribly ordinary,

using a spray gun I sometimes use a sponge or splash paint on, but it’s

but for others very unusual. My father was married six times; my mother

contained within this very rigorous and clearly defined stencil.

three times. When I was seven, my mother went out shopping one day and came back with a 15-year-old half-brother who I didn’t know I had, who

You’ve just referred to something interesting that I’d like to explore

had been in the care of a maiden aunt. My father was, on occasion, a very

further. You mention that you have recently started to touch the surface

violent man. I remember hiding in a dustbin when he beat my mother up.

of the canvas again. You have gone from something that’s quite

That was normal and I had never really thought about it, but Juliet talking

uniform, quite flat. Now there is re-emerging a sense of texture; you are

to me brought things up that really shocked me – I didn’t realise I even

sometimes scratching into the surface of the canvas. Can we talk a little

remembered some of those things and I thought, ‘hold on, maybe this is an

about that – you have said you wanted to physically remove yourself

explanation of why I am drawn to apparent perfection?’. When I went to

from touching the canvas and now you have come back to it...

photograph a new building not only did I try and photograph it before

Yes, it’s a very strange thing, as I am going back to it and therefore

Family photo 1948

allowing myself to be seen in the painting. But, I am also giving much more freedom to the paint to speak for itself. When I was only using a spray gun to make very bland surfaces they had wonderful gradations but they were rather perfect, machine-made almost. Strangely enough there, I wasn’t allowing the paint to have its own character; I was only allowing it to have a certain part of its character. Now I am putting on paint with a sponge, I am etching back into the surface, sanding back, and therefore I can’t predict what’s going to happen. I have to respond to the surface and make decisions. It is therefore important that, although I work with assistants, I am the only one who applies paint to canvas. So now, in fact, I am allowing the paintings to grow much more on their own and maybe this is to do with my own maturing and recognising that perhaps the scars of the past are rather beautiful. And if they are not beautiful, they are significant. Recently you’ve started talking about your childhood. How did these troubles at home as a child have an impact on your work; how did they influence your practice, do you think?

anyone had even been inside but, along with my cameras, I would carry a

judged on a photographic reproduction of a painting based on a

big bag of cleaning equipment and if I saw a fingerprint or a hint of human

photograph based on an experience. It is an interesting fact that all of the

habitation I would try and polish it out. Or, when I got to my studio, I would

major European museums that have been hosting the exhibition have been

remove any signs of human presence. Maybe that’s because I saw a little

receiving record visitor numbers.

bit too much of human presence in my childhood.

What unites the 30 or so painters in the show, ranging in age from

When I was eight years old and my new brother was babysitting me he

30–80 is a passion for painting, a respect for their craft and the use of

woke me to say my father had come home and was going to kill my

photography as one part of the process. None of the individuals have any

mother. My mother then returned, wrapped a blanket round me, passed

interest in copying a photograph – it is about invention and discovery.

me to waiting strangers through a hedge and told me to wait in a friend’s

Room of the Revolutionary 2014 (work in progress)

house and everything would be alright. She joined me later and the next

I think Photorealism was an important movement that gave many painters the freedom and the feeling that the photograph was a starting

day we walked past my family home where every door and window had been smashed. It was a place I never returned to and the final break up of my family. I didn’t see my brother again for 10 years. My past had been reawakened through an interview. It raised questions and made me reconsider the importance of subject matter. I found that the scars on the walls of a museum in Germany and a particular house in Mexico moved me deeply, because those marks were to do with the ignorance of human beings and the violence that is within people that can be used to cause destruction on so many levels. So I am eternally grateful to somebody who made me aware of who I was and where I came from,

Room of the Niobids 2012 (work in progress)

because we are all the by-product of our past. I don’t want to play violins and ask for sympathy – it’s nothing to do with that; I’ve just realised that we need to be grateful for our past and look at it and learn from it. There is good, there is evil, there is violence and there is peace in life. We have discussed your work in terms of figuration, abstraction and representation. You have never been comfortable with the term ‘photorealist’ have you? For the last three years I have been part of a travelling exhibition tracing the roots of Photorealism from the 1960s to the present. Because of this exhibition many of the artists have been able to meet each other and one consistent remark from them all has been “But I’m not a Photorealist.” Photorealism has suffered from a major problem. More people have seen reproductions of the paintings than have seen the actual paintings. You are 24

point. It was a very exciting time. People were discovering an alternative way of working to Realism. The project at the National Gallery was a view of London from the building’s rooftop, one of your panoramas; a series of cityscapes from all over the world that you have made alongside your paintings of architectural interiors. Can you talk about how these developed and why they are important to you? They are fundamental to me. There’s one particular painting of Liverpool, which I think will probably be one of my most significant paintings, and in some ways one of my most successful paintings as a ‘social painter’. I’ll try and explain what I mean by that. From the very beginning I have believed that art is an essential part of life, it is not a luxury; it is an indication of a healthy society. I believe that art has a purpose and it is not just about the development of the individual; an individual who is privileged enough to be able to discover themselves and their position in society through their

Looking Back to Richmond House 2010 (work in progress)

craft. And many people don’t have that luxury and many serious artists have suffered to be in that position and I respect and acknowledge that. Around 1990–5 I was making one or two paintings of signature architecture. There was one particular architect whose work I admired and when I went to a lecture by him he appeared to be the most arrogant and insensitive person I could imagine. He seemed to have very little respect for the people who used his buildings, and yet his buildings were beautiful. So I went to look at one of his buildings in Paris and I realised that what he had done was to actually place a building within the fabric of Paris and the existing buildings in an incredibly sensitive way. And I started to think; what’s important about buildings is not the building on its own, but the building in relation to the buildings that surround it; just as we are not important as individuals, we are only important when we see ourselves in relation to the society in which we live and work. So, I made a painting from the roof of his building, which took in a lot of Paris. It’s very interesting that this painting is about a building which relates very carefully and sensitively to the surrounding structures and makes reference to them, and I thought, ‘I’d like to make a series of paintings where the painting of 26

Looking Back to Richmond House 2010 (above, detail; opposite, retouching the surface of the canvas)

the city could become a springboard for other people to discuss their city.

educators, planners and the people of the city. My first three paintings did

Maybe cities are what we should be concentrating on at the end of the

not have the collaboration I was hoping for – but then came Liverpool.

twentieth century. If we concentrate on our cities, our urban fabric, we will

National Museums Liverpool wanted to commemorate 2008 when the

start to ask questions about the future and how we relate to each other.’

city was European Capital of Culture and commissioned me to make a

So I was starting to see the city as the beginning of a discussion. I realised

painting. I said I would only make the painting under certain conditions:

that my nature is celebratory and that any paintings I would make of cities would be ‘no crime, no grime’; they would be idealistic views, but I wanted to team up with other people and I hoped I’d work with a broad range of people who may have very different views on their environment – poets,

1) It becomes part of an outreach programme; 2) that I finish the painting

Patio de los Arrayanes 2015 (work in progress) Acrylic on canvas 220 x 220 cm | 87 x 87 in Private collection

in public so people see that paintings don’t come out of an ivory tower in a gold frame and 3) that other projects spring from it. And sure enough it happened! The people of Liverpool are very special, they are very proud of their city and I went to live in Liverpool for the last two months of what was a three-year painting; I moved the studio from London to the Walker Art Gallery. We expected maybe 200 visitors a day if we were very lucky. We ended up with 1100 a day. 51,000 people saw the completion of the painting and a further 150,000 came to the subsequent exhibition of all my The Liverpool Cityscape 2008 (work in progress)

cityscapes. More importantly, once I left Liverpool, projects sprang out of that painting, and other people started discussing the city and expressing their interest in the city in different ways, but using the painting as a starting point, a stimulus, a catalyst for investigation. The problem with those city paintings for me is they are extraordinary works. I am not boasting but if I stand in front of the Liverpool cityscape at the Museum of Liverpool now I think ‘I just don’t know how I did it’. The reason I was able to make it was I had six assistants working six days a week for three years. Over the last six months we were working seven days a week and we also brought in 40 other people to help in various ways, so it’s a great piece of collaboration. It still attracts thousands; several million have been to see that painting, but I am not sure if it’s a ‘good’ painting. It’s a very successful object which is a by-product of many people making a contribution.

Patio de los Arrayanes 2015 (detail)

However, now, and in the last 8 or 10 years, I have become more and more interested in finding out who I am and in trying to work as independently as possible from other people, and I am less dependent on assistants as what I try and do is find something that is within my own psyche that is also within a lot of other people. That’s what a great work of

Helen Waters is a Director of the Alan Cristea Gallery, London

art is – it’s just so bloody ordinary. There’s nothing extraordinary about great art. What’s wonderful is that it’s so obvious. 29

PAINTINGS

This catalogue includes most of the work in the exhibition and a selection of related works.

previous pages The Liverpool Cityscape 2008 (detail)

Philip Johnson House 1972 152 x 198 cm | 60 x 78 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the artist

opposite Van de Rohe Building with Barcelona Chair 1972 188 x 160 cm | 74 x 63 in Acrylic on board Private collection

One Charles Center 1972 201 x 153 cm | 79 x 60 in Acrylic on board Collection of the artist

Cross Bracing 1973 121 x 180 cm | 48 x 71 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

opposite Glass Door Reflecting a Citroen 1973 160 x 203 cm | 63 x 80 in Acrylic on board Private collection

Neoprene Gasket Supporting Curtain Wall Reflecting 1974 181 x 120 cm | 71 x 47 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Dock Reflection 1973 201 x 152 cm | 79 x 60 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

opposite Untitled (Nuts and Bolts) 1975 191 x 146 cm | 75 x 58 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Castings 1974 178 x 117 cm | 70 x 46 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

James Stirling’s History Building + Richard Einzig’s Iris Flare 1974 119 x 180 cm | 47 x 71 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the artist

Domed Roof Lights II 1974 111 x 179 cm | 44 x 71 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Office Over Seoul 1973 132 x 180 cm | 52 x 71 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the artist

Main and Expansion to Boiler House Flue â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Leicester University 1973 179 x 117 cm | 71 x 46 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Slugs 1976 110 x 180 cm | 43 x 71 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

opposite Experimental Baffle Plates on Number 3 Lift Gate 1976 177 x 157 cm | 70 x 62 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the artist

Keeper 1977 206 x 135 cm | 81 x 53 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow

Double Doors, France 1979 213 x 140 cm | 84 x 57 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of Peter and Pauline Dowsett

Greek Door 1977 226 x 151 cm | 89 x 60 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Shutter Latch 1977 160 x 107 cm | 63 x 42 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Power Station Casement Fasteners 1980 234 x 155 cm | 92 x 61 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

opposite Queenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s House Greenwich II 1978 203 x 165 cm | 96 x 63 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Marble Hill 1985 153 x 102 cm | 60 x 40 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Abierto 1980 172 x 114 cm | 68 x 45 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Street Scene, Minorca 1980 152 x 229 cm | 60 x 90 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Poolside Reflection 1984 159 x 217 cm | 63 x 86 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects

Inmos Central Spine 1985 120 x 175 cm | 47 x 69 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Crystal Palace Reconstruction II 1986 100 x 142 cm | 40 x 56 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of Plus One Gallery

East Mast with Gridline Beam and Outriggers 1986 96 x 119 cm | 38 x 47 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of Plus One Gallery

IBM North Harbour 1984 198 x 297 cm | 78 x 117 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of IBM UK

Adam and Eve and All Their Children 1987 188 x 259 cm | 74 x 102 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Middle East Looking West 1989 122 x 183 cm | 48 x 72 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

opposite Art and Illusion 1989 192 x 192 cm | 76 x 76 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

The Passage of Light 1992 122 x 122 cm | 48 x 48 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

The Waiting Space 1990 183 x l83 cm | 72 x 72 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

opposite The Taken Space 1990 183 x l83 cm | 72 x 72 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of Sydney and Walda Besthoff

Corridor of Contemplation II 1991 168 x 220 cm | 67 x 87 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Through Marble Halls 1996 183 x 241 cm | 72 x 95 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of Sydney and Walda Besthoff

The Cabinet 1991 229 x 153 cm | 90 x 60 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Present Light on the Past 2001 132 x 132 cm | 52 x 52 in Acrylic on canvas JP Morgan Chase Art Collection

Footfalls Echo in the Memory Down the Passage We Did Not Take Towards the Door We Never Opened 1993 137 x 488 cm | 54 x 192 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection This is a reconstruction of the Urbino Panel that was made in collaboration with the Alberti Group using the latest computer technology. Johnson felt a need to explore the original painting as a symbol of the collaboration between artist, patron, architect and mathematician. The resulting painting puts the viewer in a slightly different position from the original viewpoint.

The Unattended Moment 1993 184 x 243 cm | 73 x 96 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

opposite The Rookery, Chicago 1995 231 x 231 cm | 91 x 91 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Reflections on Past and Present, Paris 1996 254 x 204 cm | 100 x 80 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Hong Kong Panorama 1997 183 x 366 cm | 72 x 144 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the Special Administrative Regional Government of Hong Kong

Reading Between the Lines 1997 152 x 229 cm | 60 x 90 in Acrylic on linen Private collection

The Middle Path 1997 82 x 82 cm | 32 x 32 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

opposite Echoing Screens 2009 127 x 127 cm | 50 x 50 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Three Moments of Illumination 1998 274 x 432 cm | 108 x 170 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of HSBC Holdings plc

Jerusalem, The Eternal City 2000 229 x 457 cm | 90 x 180 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the Khalili Family Trust

Silent Study 1998 85 x 68 cm | 34 x 27 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Corridor of Benediction, Mafra 2000 140 x 193 cm | 55 x 76 in Acrylic on linen Private collection

Z端rich Panorama 2003 200 x 400 cm | 79 x 158 in Acrylic on linen Private collection

Tokyo Pool 2006 137 x 206 cm | 54 x 81 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of James and Linda Law

The Inner Space 2001 l02 x 152 cm | 40 x 60 in Acrylic on linen Collection of Mo Teitelbaum

Unseen Space 2007 183 x 158 cm | 72 x 62 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

The Liverpool Cityscape 2008 244 x 488 cm | 96 x 192 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool

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101

opposite The Space Within II 2011 110 x 110 cm | 43 x 43 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Light Structure 2008 188 x 137 cm | 74 x 54 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the artist

102

103

opposite Far Horizons III 2010 180 x 180 cm | 71 x 71 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Crescent Wing 2009 91 x 91 cm | 36 x 36 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the artist

104

105

Looking Back to Richmond House 2010 183 x 274 cm | 72 x 108 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

106

107

opposite The Space Between 2010 188 x 188 cm | 74 x 74 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Connecting Space 2010 180 x 180 cm | 71 x 71 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of Sydney and Walda Besthoff

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109

Novy Dvur Studies II 2013 90 x 90 cm | 36 x 36 in Acrylic on Canvas Private collection

110

opposite Novy Dvur Study IV 2013 90 x 90 cm | 35 x 35 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the artist

111

opposite Mirador de Lindaraja 2012 220 x 220 cm | 87 x 87 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

Approaching the Mirador 2013 225 x 150 cm | 89 x 59 in Acrylic on canvas Private collection

112

113

Room of the Niobids 2012 180 x 252 cm | 71 x 98 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the artist

114

115

Roman Room 2014 180 x 237 cm | 71 x 93 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the artist

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117

Fatherland Room 2014 180 x 250 cm | 71 x 99 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the artist

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119

Room of the Revolutionary 2014 150 x 225 cm | 59 x 89 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the artist

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121

Solo Exhibitions, Group Exhibitions, Collections and Commissions

Ben Johnson

Solo Exhibitions

Born 1946 in Llandudno, Wales

2015–16

Studied at the Royal College of Art, London

Spirit of Place: Ben Johnson Paintings 1969-2015, Southampton City Art Gallery

2014

Time Past Time Present, Alan Cristea Gallery, London

2010–11

Modern Perspectives, National Gallery, London

2010

Ben Johnson Paintings, Alan Cristea Gallery, London

2008

Ben Johnson’s Liverpool Cityscape 2008 and the World Panorama Series, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool Artist in Residence, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

2002

Still Time, Blains Fine Art, London

2001

Jerusalem, The Eternal City, Chester Beatty Museum, Dublin

1997

Hong Kong Panorama 1997, displayed at the Royal Academy of Arts, London prior to final destination, New Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong. Unveiled and accepted by Tung Chee Hwa, Chief Executive, Special Administrative Regional Government of Hong Kong, on behalf of the people of China

1994

Time Present and Time Past are Both Perhaps Present in Time Future and Time Future Contained in Time Past, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh

1992

Paintings and Diverse Projects, Fischer Fine Art, London

1991

Collaborations: Collaborative Sculpture Projects with Ove Arup & Partners, Arup Associates and Foster Associates, Arup Associates, London

123

1990

Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York

1989

Painting Beyond Architecture – Independent

Selected Group Exhibitions

2006

Observation, Royal Institute of British, Architects, London

Toronto Art Fair

Art Works : From IBM’s UK Locations, Glasgow

London Now, City of Heaven, City of Hell,

Art School, Glasgow

Guildhall Art Gallery, London 2015

Masters of Light, Albemarle Gallery, London

2005

1989

The Artist and Radio 4, Bankside Gallery, London

50 Years of Collecting: Art at IBM, IBM Gallery of Science and Art, New York

1986

Structuring Space, Fischer Fine Art, London

20th Anniversary Exhibition, Alan Cristea Gallery,

Small is Beautiful, Flowers Central, London

1984

A Study in Patronage – Art, Architecture and

London

BlowUp, New Painting and Photoreality, St Paul’s

Georges Pompidou, Paris; 1989 Bordeaux; 1990

1981

South Square Gallery, Bradford

Collection, New Orleans Museum of Art

1978

Riverside Studios, London

Hyperrealism 1967–2013, Museo de Bellas Artes,

Design, Fischer Fine Art, London

2014–15 Photorealism: The Sydney and Walda Besthoff

Fischer Fine Art, London

1973

Institute of Contemporary Art, London

1969

Wickesham Gallery, New York

Frankfurt; 1990 Palais de Beaulieu, Lausanne; 1991 Pabellón Mudéjar, Seville; 1992 Mercado Ferreira

Exactitude, Plus One Plus Two Galleries, London

Borges, Portugal.

2002

1988

Architecture: 3 Ways, The Robert Phillips Gallery

Light and Space – Looking into Paintings, Crawford Centre for the Arts, Scottish Arts

2014

The Threadneedle Prize: Figurative Art Today, Mall Galleries, London. Visitors’ Choice Award winner.

at Riverhouse, Walton-on-Thames

2014

Abu Dhabi Art Fair

Small is Beautiful, Flowers East, London

1987

Great Engineers, Royal College of Art, London

Interiors Observed, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery,

1986

Lieux? de Travail, Centre Georges Pompidou,

2013–14 Photorealism: 50 Years of Hyperrealistic Painting, 2013

2001

New York

Paris

Hyperreal – More Than Pop! Saarland Museum,

Great! Britain, Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery,

Painting/Photography, Richard Demarco Gallery,

Hyperrealism 1967–2012, Museo Thyssen-

2012–13 2012

New York 2000

2007

Edinburgh 1985

Travelling Exhibition: St. Martin’s School of Art,

Arts Café, Rivington Gallery, London.

London; Dartington Hall, Dartington; Winchester

Hyperrealism Today, Museu del Tabac, Andorra

Urban Realism, Blains Fine Art, London

Gallery, Winchester.

Photorealism, Kunsthalle, Tübingen, Germany

Looking Forward, Inaugural exhibition, The Robert

Beyond Reality, British Painting Today Galerie 1999

1984

Images et Imaginaires d’Architecture, Centre

Phillips Gallery at Riverhouse, Walton-on-Thames

Georges Pompidou, Paris

Travelling Exhibition: Into the Light, Royal

Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester.

Contributed to Norman Foster installation, Venice

Photographic Society, Bath; Cadaques, Spain

Biennale, Venice

Mobiles @ Camberwell, London

1983

Four British Realists, Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney

Discerning Eye Exhibition, The Mall Galleries,

Mobiles @ RIBA Architecture Gallery, London

Eight British Realists, Louis K. Meisel Gallery,

London

The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London

New York Contemporary British Painting, Museo Municipal,

Zürich Art Fair, Zürich, Switzerland

1998

National Print Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London

New to DACS, Kowalsky Gallery, London

1997

Oil on Canvas, Boundary Gallery, London Virgin Airways, Heathrow Airport, London

London Art Fair 2008

Zen and the Art of Cities, curated by the London

Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain

Rudolfinum, Prague

2009

Council Touring Exhibition.

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery Germany

Celebrating Palladio, Plus One Gallery, London

Madrid 1982

1994–96 Travelling Exhibition: Contemporary British

Glasgow City Art Museum, Scotland Art into the 80’s, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

Set in Stone, PM Gallery and House, London

Architecture, UK LA 1994 Festival, Pacific Design

Solomon Gallery, Dublin

Miami Art Fair

Centre, Los Angeles; 1995 National Academy of

Painter/Printmaker, Farnham Art School,

Dubai Art Fair

Design, New York; 1996 Art Institute of Chicago

Farnham

The Art of Folly, New Academy Gallery, London

Arts Council, Edinburgh Fruit Market, Scotland

Abu Dhabi Art Fair

1992

Toronto Art Fair

1991

Arts, Vught, Netherlands London Art Fair

Photographic collaboration with Norman Foster, Venice Biennale, Venice

Inaugural Exhibition House of Arts, Garden of

124

Gallery, Birmingham ARTitecture, Collins Gallery, Glasgow Realism, Flowers East, London

Bilbao, Spain

Paintings 1975–1978, Fischer Fine Art, London 1975

2003

1988–92 Travelling exhibition : Châteaux Bordeaux, Centre

1990

1981

The Real British, Fischer Fine Art, London International Print Biennale, Ljubljana

Aspekte des Europåischen Realismus von 1900–

John Moores Exhibition 12, Walker Art Gallery,

1990, Cologne

Liverpool

125

1977

International Print Biennale, Cracow

Works in Public Collections

Corporate Commissions

Millennium Commissions

Graphics ’76 Britain, University Art Gallery,

National Museums, Liverpool

Elemeta Ltd

Panorama Jerusalem, The Eternal City commissioned by

Kentucky

Boymans-van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam

IBM UK Ltd.

The Khalili Family Trust. World Tour commenced Royal

British Realists, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham

The British Council, London

Department of the Environment

Academy of Arts, London, 2000

Illustrating Architecture, Royal Institute of British Architecture, London 1976

1974

Bradford Print Biennale, Bradford

The Contemporary Arts Society, London

Renault UK Ltd.

John Moores Exhibition 9, Walker Art Gallery,

De Beers/CSO Collection, London

Gillette Industries Ltd.

Museum Development Trust to celebrate the opening of

Liverpool

Royal Institute of British Architecture, London

British Gas

The Great Court

1973

Europalia, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels

City Art Gallery, Glasgow

J P Morgan

1967

London Group ’67, London

Whitworth Gallery, Manchester

Royal Institute of British Architects

Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris

Ove Arup & Partners

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Arup Associates

Deutsche Bank

Société de Vins de France

British Petroleum

Volvo, Sweden

Guildhall Art Gallery, Corporation of London

Troughton McAslan, Architects

Special Administrative Regional Government of Hong Kong, New Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong

European Capital of Culture Commission

The Liverpool Cityscape commissioned by National

British Steel

Museums Liverpool for 2008, when Liverpool was

Stanhope Grays Inn Ltd.

European Capital of Culture

Regional Services Council Museum, Hong Kong

Chelsfield Management Services Ltd.

Museum of London

Cable & Wireless plc.

The British Museum

Hong Kong Telecommunications Ltd.

The Government Art Collection

Pearson plc

Tate, London

HSBC Holdings plc

Museum of Modern Art, New York

Commemorative print commissioned by The British

Foster + Partners Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners

126

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Published by Alan Cristea Gallery in collaboration with Southampton City Art Gallery on the occasion of BEN JOHNSON SPIRIT OF PLACE PAINTINGS 1969-2015 18 September 2015 – 23 January 2016 Southampton City Art Gallery Civic Centre Commercial Road Southampton SO14 7LP www.southampton.gov.uk/art/ Arts and Heritage Manager: Lisa Shepherd Lead Exhibitions Officer: Dan Matthews Curator of Art: Tim Craven Images © Ben Johnson. All rights reserved DACS Foreword © Tim Craven Interview © Helen Waters, Ben Johnson Designed by Tim Harvey, London Colour separations by Dexter Premedia, London Printed by Studio Fasoli, Verona ISBN 978-0-9932485-2-8 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any other information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data: A full catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library Photography Credits Prudence Cuming Associates, except: Toby Melville, Reuters: page 29 Peter White, FXP: pages 18, 99, 102, 104–5, 108–11, 113–19 Josh Wright: page 6 Great care has been taken to identify all copyright holders correctly. In cases of errors or omissions please contact the publishers so that we can make corrections in future editions.

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Acknowledgements Ben Johnson would like to thank the many assistants without whose help he could not have produced this body of work. They are, unfortunately, too numerous to mention but most have gone on to independent careers as artists and designers. One person that does need to be acknowledged by name is Richard Gibson, who came to help out for three weeks and stayed for 19 years. Ben would also like to give special thanks to all the collectors who have generously lent work to this exhibition and to his exhibitions in the past, and to his many other patrons. He would like to mention the following for their long-term support and/or for helping him achieve particular ambitions: Elliott Bernerd; Ann Bukantas and National Museums Liverpool; Aldo Coronelli; Norman Foster; Nasser D. Khalili; Peter Palumbo; Willie Purves; Phil and Alexis Redmond; Ürs Schwarzenbach; The University of Liverpool; David Young and all the other patrons who have requested to remain anonymous. It is difficult for an artist to survive without a significant and committed dealer. Ben is indebted to Harry Fischer of Fischer Fine Art (London) Ltd. who bought his entire first London one-man show at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1973 and then represented him for almost 20 years; Louis Meisel in New York; Harry Blain; Maggie Bollaert and Colin Pettit and latterly Alan Cristea, Kathleen Dempsey, Helen Waters and their gallery colleagues. Ben would like to thank Southampton City Art Gallery, in particular Tim Craven and Dan Matthews, and Tim Harvey for his hard work and painstaking attention to detail in designing this catalogue. Lastly Ben would like to dedicate this book to his wife, Sheila, who started working with him (after 20 years of marriage) at the same time as Richard Gibson and is still there! She also helped to produce his two finest works – Jamie and Charlie Johnson.

cover Hong Kong Panorama 1997 (detail) 183 x 366 cm | 72 x 144 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the Special Administrative Regional Government of Hong Kong endpapers Room of the Niobids 2012 (detail) title page Jerusalem, The Eternal City 2000 (detail) 229 x 457 cm | 90 x 180 in Acrylic on canvas Collection of the Khalili Family Trust