Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Christopher Lowry Johnson @ Winkleman Gallery

Winkleman Gallery is extremely pleased to present Chorus, our third solo exhibition by New York artist Christopher Lowry Johnson. In a new series of paintings, Johnson continues to negotiate a balance between familiar contemporary content and a combination of art historical styles, here via a group of canvases that share the landscape format and a somber tone. Essentially depopulated scenes (such as decorated pines and carved mountain sides) insinuate a human presence in the natural world, a deliberate summoning of the Romantic Movement wherein human longing is irrevocably analogous to the vast potentialities of Nature.

As suggested by the title Chorus, these paintings emphasize harmony achieved through the use of repetition, culling from a diverse array of sources ranging from Islamic tile work and Theosophical Society telepaths to Minimalism and fractal geometry. While the works in the exhibition are imbedded in order, their painterly, agitated surfaces impose a tension that reflects how even as the color is cool the underlying themes are much darker. The basis of the series, as in Johnson's last exhibition, is a response to our troubling times. Formations of pine trees adorned with twinkling lights become silent personifications of soldiers. The weighed down branches are an aggregation of weather and the burden of time. The chiseled appearances of the presidents on Mt. Rushmore are disembodied and silly as well as grim reminders of loss. Hints of snow capped mountain ranges, ice, and foamy pools are evocations of real or imagined tragedies like Hurricane Katrina or Moby Dick.

For more information please contact the gallery at info@winkleman.com or 212.643.3152.

Christopher Lowry Johnson
Chorus

March 23 to April 21, 2007
Opening Reception: Friday, March 23, 6-8 PM
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 11 am to 6 pm

Winkleman Gallery
637 West 27th Street (Ground Floor)
New York, NY
10001 T: 212.643.3152 F: 212.643.2040
info@winkleman.com
www.winkleman.com
Hours: Tuesday thru Saturday, 11am to 6pm or by appointment.

2 Comments:

Blogger Sunil said...

I was up at your gallery this afternoon and I must say that some of the work by Christopher is visually stunning. My favorites were Chorus and Pines No. 5. Amazing what could be achieved with a minimalist use of color and white... Great show and very recommended...

3/29/2007 03:22:00 PM  
Blogger sam sanford said...

I wish you would put more images of the paintings up on your site.

4/20/2007 10:47:00 AM  

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