Ken Johnson | Counterpoint

As a preface for Ken's exhibition respected international and national Artist/Sculptor, Painter and Lecturer
Bert Flugelman (now in his 87th year) has kindly written a background on Ken's painting.
Bert is held in high esteem and is represented in the Australian National Gallery and regional galleries within Australia.
Most people would know of his sculpture work which was commissioned for the Adelaide Council and for Martin Place, Sydney.

"To write an essay about Ken Johnson's work does not allow one to speak, as one normally would,
about a coherent style, a linear development, an orderly progression in the unfolding of a considerable talent.

Johnson has been drawing, painting, collecting, building, investigating and exploring from an early age.
He has a voracious appetite for sensations and experiences. Coupled with great drive and prodigious energy
his investigations have led him to all corners of the globe over the last thirty years.

His work has been influenced stylistically by each culture and produced bodies of work which are clearly indebted
to this culture. This is an important learning strategy. Each time, almost imperceptably, his work has
taken on a new richness and has extended his ability to deal with the central theme of his work, the Australian
landscape. The strategy of having multiple picture planes, side by side, slightly out of register introduce a
very important element into Johnsons paintings. He has managed to insert a time element into these
paintings, a reference to film frames which is very persuasive and confidently places these images in the presence.

Ken Johnson has an enormously acute eye, he picks up nuances of change and subtleties of mood and colour
with certainty of touch that makes him one of the most important painters, with a particular flair for the outback of Australia.

Sculpture is also an important way of working for this versatile artist. He has worked in a variety of mediums, most notably
his stone carvings of figures and heads. He shows the same energy and versatility in this area as he does in his paintings.
It all seems to stem from this exuberance to make, to come to grips with the essence of the experience and to make it manifest
in the world. This talent for making is extended into building his own houses and studios and garden walls and on and on,
peopling the landscape with his sculptures and creating a world which is truly his own."

Bert Flugelman 2006

Artist Statement

The idea for these works starts with a simple geometric shape, it then becomes the focus of the landscape or figure i.e. It is incorporated into the subject. Although not always appearing so obvious, it however concentrates on demonstating the relevance of forms within the natural terrain, It can also transcend into the human element.

The Newcastle pool has for over 35 years been a source of great facination to me. The concept of stage is the main concentration

The aerial river works are more lyrical in their manifestation but still retain the key elements of geometry, the appearance of the "line continuum" can really be appreciated from the air.

Although the Antarctic works may appear incongruous to the other works, they also have geometric relevance, but the emphasis here shifts to the aspects of the fragility of the planet.
Euclidean Symposium III
76cm x 153cm
acrylic on linen
$24,500
Ocean Bath Symposium V
138cm x 305cm
acrylic on canvas
$45,000
Euclidean Symposium IV
76cm x 153cm
acrylic on canvas
$24,500

‘Euclidean Symposium series’

All my life I have been fascinated with the Newcastle pool, so much so I spent an entire 10 hours sitting in one location observing peoples activities in my visual range, this led to the allegorical portrayal of the pool using Euclidean geometry and sculpted human forms . I use the pool and concrete surrounds as the stage on which to animate the symposium or characters

3 Corners (triptych)
61cm x 275cm
acrylic on canvas
$27,500
Serpentine (adjunct) (triptych)
100cm x 300cm
acrylic on linen
$45,000

‘3 Corners’ (triptych)
Although finding all headlands extremely beautiful their half triangular form in the painting never seems to satisfy by repeating these half triangular shapes in a successive line they evolved into another form satisfying my need to see the entire triangular shapes.

Serpentine (adjunct) (triptych) and Access
The line continuum relates to the curvilinear aspects of how perpetual motion creates the axioms of geometric forms, in this case an arc in rhythm with the land is formed by the traversing of water as it makes its way seaward.

Investigating (diptych)
100cm x 200cm
acrylic on linen
$30,000
Access
60m x 90cm
acrylic on canvas
$15,500
Pyramid Ice
61cm x 121cm
acrylic on canvas
$18,500

‘Investigating (diptych)’
Winding its way through the arid landscape, this river has the appearance of an investigating serpent. This adagio of movement is best appreciated from this elevation.

‘Pyramid Ice and Force of Light’
These antarctic themes of icebergs are derived from the geometric square and triangle, they make reference to the subtleties of geometry and shapes within nature whilst creating an allegory (being one of the first modern artists to paint icebergs) they are a neverending source of inspiration.

Yosemite Valley
55cm x 75cm
acrylic on paper
$8,500
Force of Light
90cm x 80cm
acrylic on canvas
$16,500
Sylvia
67cm x 69cm
acrylic on paper
$8,000

‘Yosemite Valley’
Ansel Adams photographic survey of the Yosemite valley allowed me to first sketch this iconic view and later create 2 subsequent works . My own fascination with this scene is the protruding triangles that make up the beauty of this valley.

‘Silvia’
At the time that this was being painted, I was invited to take part in the first International painting symposium in the National Art Museum in Damascus, Syria; as the only Australian representative, I wanted to include this portrait of Silvia, because I found a similarity of the features of her face with the curvilinear landscapes of rhythmic rivers.

River Bend
90cm x 117cm
acrylic on canvas
$18,000
Ocean Circle II
60m x 122cm
acrylic on linen
$18,500
Rivermouth Sandspits (Tas Series)
100cm x 120cm
acrylic on canvas
$26,500

Ocean Circle
This ocean bath in the centre of Newcastle has always been fascinating to me for reasons that it satisfies any quest for the appreciation of geometry found in the landscape.

Crossing Lines
This axonometric view of the landscape is typical of any inland road where intersection takes place. I’m always intrigued with the rhythmic imprint as seen from this elevation.

Reclining
55cm x 75cm
acrylic on paper
$7,000
Parallel Course (diptych)
61cm x 122cm
acrylic on linen
$17,500
Crossing
55m x 75cm
acrylic on paper
$7,500

"Ken Johnson has a delightful talent for acute perception of 'mood' in landscape. Johnson, it seems to me, is interested (among other things)
in how the landscape rolls with time. For him this country is not static, it is 'unfolding' in a landscape which is called 'folded'."

John Olsen, Australia’s most recognised active artist
John Olsen was also born in Newcastle and is represented in all State Galleries in Australia and within the
Newcastle Region Art Gallery. A major work of his adorns City Town Hall.