Eric Johnson (sculptor)
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Eric Johnson | |
|---|---|
 Eric Johnson, sculptor, San Pedro, California | |
| Born | 1949[citation needed] Burbank, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Movement | Post-minimalism |
| Website | ericjohnsonstudio |
Eric Johnson is a contemporary American sculptor.
Inspired by both art and science, Johnson creates composite works of wood, resin and automotive lacquer. The abstract works are sheathed in resin skins, often revealing glimpses of skeletal armatures and hidden architectures. Other influences have been the aerospace industry and his ancestral boat builder heritage.[citation needed]
“Fundamentally, I believe the driving force behind my work lies in my fascination with scale and the exploration of the underlying principles of physics. Through abstracted DNA strands and the study of wavelength patterns, my artwork bears witness to this research."[1]
Johnson is a member of the Post-Minimalist movement, which eschews the minimalist insistence on closed, geometric forms in favor of more open forms. Much of his past work was influenced by the Finish Fetish style, which achieves sensuous colors and pristine surfaces by using resins, automotive paint, plastics, and fabrication processes adapted from the industrial world. His work fits seamlessly within both genres.[citation needed]
Early life and education
[edit]Johnson was raised in the San Fernando Valley, some 15 miles from downtown Los Angeles. He attended Los Angeles Valley College, then California Institute of the Arts, and received his Master of Fine Arts degree from University of California at Irvine, graduating summa cum laude. After graduation, he became a studio assistant to Tony DeLap and later to John Paul Jones and Craig Kauffman[1]
He has lived and worked in San Pedro, California since 1996.[2]
Criticism and commentary
[edit]Art critic Leah Ollman, writing in The Los Angeles Times, has described Johnson's composite resin and wood sculptures as "sleek and smart", saying that they "curve and blossom, pulse and torque, mimicking the geometries underlying space, time and forms of life", and comparing them to "the distilled shapes of Brancusi" [3]
Filmmaker and curator Neil Kendricks, describing a Johnson exhibition in Artweek, said "The pieces' sensual and curvy surfaces often feel cold and remote despite their aesthetically pleasing arrangement of forms. But the work doesn't just rest on a formal idea of icy, detached beauty. Each piece occupies its specific space as if it were marking the territory of an absent human presence."[4]
Art critic Roberta Carasso paid tribute to the scientific inspiration for these works, saying "With resins that originated in the aerospace and automotive industries, Johnson attempts to portray galactic concepts – Parallel Universe, Redundant Collapse, and Black Holes – expounded by modern physicists such as Dr. Stephen Hawkings [sic.]."[5]
Exhibitions
[edit]Solo exhibition
[edit]- 2023 Madame X, William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica, CA[6]
Group shows
[edit]- 2025 Moment of Perception, King Studio, Venice, CA[7]
- 2025 Beneath a Shared Sky, Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA[8]
- 2024 LIGHT MATTER - PST ART: Art & Science Collide, William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica, CA[9]
- 2017 Eric Johnson and Peter Lodato, William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica, CA[10]
Public collections
[edit]Johnson’s work is held in public collections,[6][better source needed] including:
- Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, California;[not specific enough to verify]
- Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California; [not specific enough to verify]
- Lancaster Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, California; [not specific enough to verify]
Awards and citations
[edit]- 1996 Gottlieb Foundation Individual Support Grant[failed verification]
- 1996 “Artist Beyond Disabilities” 1st Place, Long Beach, CA
References
[edit]- ^ a b "ERIC JOHNSON STUDIO". San Pedro, California. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
- ^ Paris, Melina (9 October 2024). "San Pedro's Ranch". Random Lengths News. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
- ^ Ollman, Leah (2 November 2004). "The double helix". Los Angeles Times. p. 67. Retrieved 1 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
Johnson's versatility is on impressive display in this selection of his work
- ^ Kendricks, Neil (November 2000). "Eric Johnson at Simayspace at Arts College International". Artweek. No. 11, vol.31. p. 22.
- ^ Carasso, Roberta (June 14, 2001). "Constructive artist ponders universe". Orange County Register. p. 22.
- ^ a b
"ERIC JOHNSON: Madame X". Santa Monica, California: William Turner Gallery. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
Utilizing new materials and industrial products, like resin & plastic, artwork of impossibly slick, sleek character began to emerge and was termed 'Finish Fetish.'
- ^ Kay Whitney (21 February 2025). "Moment of Perception". Sculpture Magazine. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
Johnson is inspired by a wide range of influences, including wave patterns, DNA structures, and nebulas
- ^ "Beneath a Shared Sky: A Legacy of Art". Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
- ^ "LIGHT MATTER - PST ART: Art & Science Collide". William Turner Gallery. Santa Monica, California. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
Johnson utilizes polyester resin and color-shifting pigments, to create sculptures that are exquisitely sensual and dynamic in how they reflect and absorb light.
- ^ Shana Nys Dambrot (23 August 2017). "William Turner Gallery: Peter Lodato and Eric Johnson". Made in Los Angeles Artillery. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
His use of wood and a taste for variably high-polish and hand-worn surface qualities create illusions of lightness and monumentality, engineering and hand-crafting, object and abstraction.