JAY MARK JOHNSON ÍSLENSKIR FOSSAR
WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY
JAY MARK JOHNSON
ÍSLENSKIR FOSSAR
WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY
JAY MARK JOHNSON ÍSLENSKIR FOSSAR
“Utilizing sophisticated exposure techniques…Jay Mark Johnson has been touring the world’s nature reserves to produce these critical images and many others like them. The images prove just how serious he is.” - Ingeborg Ruthe, Berliner Zeitung
Santa Monica, CA - The William Turner Gallery is pleased to present the fourth solo exhibition of Los Angeles-based, multi-disciplinary artist Jay Mark Johnson. Ten spectacular large format images of waterfalls and geysers are selected from the most recent photographic artworks in the artist’s two-decades-long production of paradigm-shifting timeline imagery.
The artworks presented in ÍSLENSKIR FOSSAR were produced in Iceland in October of 2021 towards the end of global travel restrictions. Traversing the stark volcanic landscape, Johnson focused on the atmospheric turbulence of rushing waters and freezing air emanating from the region’s waterfalls and geysers, capturing the dramatic interplay of the spectacular geological events within the seasonal low-raking “golden hour” light. In the Icelandic language, the word “foss” means waterfall—with roots in the Nordic word for “force”. In his exploration of the possibilities for timeline photography, Johnson has repeatedly turned his attentions to marveling at the forces of nature, specifically the reciprocal physical interactions of light, water and atmosphere found in coastal waves and inland waterfalls.
Johnson has always been fascinated at how the transmorphisms of his slit scan photographs— because they are both recognizable and strange—challenge the viewer’s expectations, forcing recognition of both the truthfulness and validity of alternative perspectives. Over the years he has worked to exploit both the refraction and diffraction of light waves as they encounter objects out in the environment and within the camera itself. Working close to the billowing plumes of waterfalls he plays with the naturally occurring displays of banded light waves visible in rainbow-like color patterns. He “paints” with the incoming color spectrum emanating from the outer reaches of the waterfalls, from the water as it crashes against rocks, and from the space between the falls and the shear rock face behind. Recorded within his inventive temporal delineations, the resulting artworks are as startling and unimaginable as they are eye-popping and poetic.
Each image in the exhibition bears distinct site specific features. For SELJALANDSFOSS #3, Johnson carried his camera equipment into a giant cavern behind a monolithic, 200 foot high cascade. Turning to look back outward, he captured an ephemeral curtain—a delicate and translucent waterwall—through which one magically views a wide horizontal stretch of the distant azure sky. In SKÓGAFOSS, a rainbow materializes through the viscous spray at the heel of the cataract while the volcanic substrate immediately behind the falls is refracted into muted color striations. In GEYSER #1, an abrupt eruption of a massive thermogenic jet sprays its sulphuredgreen waters skyward and then, vanishing quickly, dissipates into the low-hanging overcast fog. Two of the images in the show were produced at Stewart Falls in Sundance, Utah while another was recorded on the Big Island in Hawaii.
GEYSIR #1 (Haukadalsvegur, Iceland)
2021
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
43” x 96” frameless Edition of 3/ 2 AP
31.5” x 81.5” framed Edition of 9/ 2 AP
STEWART FALLS #6 (Sundance, UT)
2019
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
43” x 96” frameless Edition of 3/ 2 AP
31.5” x 81.5” framed Edition of 9/ 2 AP
SELJALANDFOSS #4, (Rangàrthing Ekstra, Iceland)
2021
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
43” x 120” frameless Edition of 3/2 AP
31.5” x 88” framed Edition of 9/2 AP
ÖXARÁRFOSS 2 (Þingvellir National Park, Iceland)
2021
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
40” x 106” frameless Edition of 3/2 AP
31” x 81” framed Edition of 9/2 AP
FAXIFOSS #3 (Faxi, Iceland)
2021
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
43” x 96” frameless Edition of 3/ 2 AP
31.5” x 81.5” framed Edition of 9/ 2 AP
GULFOSS #6, (Hvitá River Canyon, Iceland)
2021
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
43 x 96” frameless Edition of 3/ 2 AP
31.5” x 81.5” framed Edition of 9/ 2 AP
AKAKA KASKATA #11 (Honomu, Big Island, HI)
2010
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
43” x 96” frameless Edition of 3/ 2 AP
31.5” x 81.5” framed Edition of 9/ 2 AP
STEWART FALLS #43 (Sundance, Utah)
2019
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
60” x 60” framed Edition of 3/ 2 AP
31.5” x 31.5” framed Edition of 9/ 2 AP
FAXIFOSS #2 (Faxi, Iceland)
2021
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
60” x 60” framed Edition of 3/ 2 AP
31.5” x 31.5” framed Edition of 9/ 2 AP
ÖXARÁRFOSS 1 (Þingvellir National Park, Iceland)
2021
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
40” x 106” frameless Edition of 3/2AP
31” x 81” framed Edition of 9/2 AP
SKÓGAFOSS #1, (Skógar, Iceland)
2021
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
43” x 96” frameless Edition of 3/ 2 AP
31.5” x 81.5” framed Edition of 9/ 2 AP
SELJALANDFOSS 2 (Seljalandsfoss, Iceland)
2021
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
40” x 106” frameless Edition of 3/2 AP
31” x 81” framed Edition of 9/2 AP
“Experimental evidence produced since the creation of Einstein’s Special Theory confirms that space and time are in fact elastic and interdependent. Jay Mark Johnson’s studies are plays upon the relative mutability of our physical reality.”
-Lebbeus Woods - architect, artistLEFT: Jay Mark Johnson crossing cable bridge to waterfall (Puebla, Mexico)
GULFOSS #4 (Hvitá River Canyon, Iceland)
2021
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
43” x 96” frameless Edition of 3
31.5” x 81.5” framed Edition of 9
SELJALANDFOSS 1 (Seljalandsfoss, Iceland)
2021
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
40” x 106” frameless Edition of 3/2 AP
31” x 81” framed Edition of 9/2 AP
GULLFOSS 3 (Hvitá River Canyon, Iceland)
2021
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
40” x 106” frameless Edition of 3/2 AP
31” x 81” framed Edition of 9/2 AP
GEYSIR 4 (Haukadalsvegur, Iceland)
2021
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
40” x 106” frameless Edition of 3/2 AP
31” x 81” framed Edition of 9/2 AP
FAXIFOSS 4 (Faxi, Iceland)
2021
Archival pigment on paper mounted on aluminum with UV laminate
40” x 106” frameless Edition of 3/2 AP
31” x 81” framed Edition of 9/2 AP
JAY MARK JOHNSON
Jay Mark Johnson’s work has been exhibited and collected by prestigious private institutions and public collections throughout the U.S. and Europe, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian Institution, Art Institute of Chicago, Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, the Phoenix Art Museum, the Langen Foundation and Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe.
Johnson was born in 1955 in St. Petersburg, Florida, and since 1996, has resided intermittently in Paris, Antwerp, Rome and rural Italy. The artist currently maintains studios in both Los Angeles and New Orleans where, in addition to his photography, he draws, paints, sculpts and writes.
JAY MARK JOHNSON
RECENT SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 ÍSLENSKIR FOSSAR, William Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2021 NO STONE UNTURNED, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2020 X = TIME, Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA
2019 SEE WHAT I MEAN, Eyes On Main, Los Angeles, CA
2018 IT’S ABOUT TIME, William Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2016 SIDESHOW SIEM REAP, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2015 NO STONE UNTURNED, Wildwood School, Los Angeles, CA
2015 WAVE LENGTHS, William Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015 TIMELINES, Colburn School of M ic, Los Angeles, CA
2015 PHOTO LA 2015, Los Angeles, CA
2014 EN LA MADRIX, Instituto Municipal de Arte y Cultura de Puebla, MX
2014 LINEA DEL TIEMPO, Palacio Municipal, Instituto Municipal de Arte y Cultura de Puebla, MX 2014 #INWHEELTIME, MOPLA. LUCIE Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
2014 PHOTO LA 2014, William Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2013 TIME LINE WAVES, ACE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2013 NO SUCH PLACE, William Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2013 PHOTO LA 2013, Los Angeles, CA
2012 NO SUCH PLACE, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney AU
2012 THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, Christ Church, Oxford University UK
2012 SPACETIME: Beyond the Constraints of Perception. UCLA Cotsen Institute, Los Angeles, CA
2012 PHOTO LA 2012, Los Angeles, CA
2011 TEMPO LINEARE, La Botte Ristorante, Los Angeles CA
2011 EL ANARQUISTA Y EL AUTOMOVIL, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2011 MOTION STUDIES, Kunstforum Essenheim, Esseheim DE
2011 VENICE SPACEWALK, Venice Family Clinic & Animal West, Los Angeles, CA
2010 VENICE SPACEWALK, Venice Family Clinic, Los Angeles, CA
2009 SCOPE 09, Galerie Deschler, Basel CH
2009 GERMAN CONSULATE, Basel CH
2009 SPACETIME, ACE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2008 SWEPT AWAY, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2008 NEW WORK HAMBURG, aplanat Galerie für Photography, Hamburg DE
2007 MOTION STUDIES, aplanat Galerie für Photografie, Hamburg DE
2007 MOTION STUDIES, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2007 TEMPO LINEARE, Comune di Cetona, Cetona IT
2007 TAICHI MOTION STUDIES, aplanat Galerie für Fotographie, Hamburg DE
ARTWORK IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
BUNDESTAG (GERMAN PARLIAMENT) REICHSTAG
BUILDING, BERLIN
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF POLITICAL GRAPHICS
FIDELITY CORPORATE ART COLLECTION, BOSTON
ALISON AND PETER KLEIN, MUSEUM KUNSTWERK, BERDINGEN
LANGEN FOUNDATION, HOMBROICH
MILKEN FAMILY FOUNDATION, SANTA MONICA
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK CITY
PHOENIX ART MUSEUM, PHOENIX
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, TRAVELING EXHIBITION SERVICE
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, DIVISION OF POLITICAL HISTORY, WASH. DC
FREDERICK R. WEISMAN ART FOUNDATION, LOS ANGELES
ZENTRUM FÜR KUNST UND MEDIENTENOLOGIE, KARLSRUHE, DE
WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY
