Femi Johnson’s art occupies a fascinating zone where fertile ambiguities, representational fragments and unfamiliar profiles create quizzical images that are not quickly or easily digested. Febrile colors and frayed shapes bump up against fragments of flesh, nature and culture to express a trippy take on modernity, infused with psychological content and meaning.
At first glance, the functional connectivity of many pieces appears minimal; however, further investigation reveals a looser realm of associations that allows probing minds to penetrate his odd visual vocabulary. This is due, in part, to his ability to take small pieces of visual information and juxtapose them in ways that articulate emotional states of being. Things that initially feel a bit awkward and out of place manage to map their own brands of wholeness where, like in real life, messy and deeply focused elements coexist in meaningful dynamics.
For Johnson, wielding pens and pencils as instruments of expression began at age nine.
In the ‘90s, while teaching himself to draw portraits in graphite and charcoal, he became a professional draftsman. Although he became as proficient at drafting designs on the computer
as at the drawing board, Johnson gravitated back to pencils, paints and collage to express his unique artistic vision.
Johnson is influenced by the multicultural currents of our time. The energies that fire the practical and seemingly inutile aspects of daily life find their way into his work. He says, “The absorption of layers and fragments from child to adult, formal and self education, personal and media influences, my world view, spiritual and practical gestures, all float around inside me looking for position in my art.”
Expressions Studio | 542 Hamilton St., Allentown | 518.928.4643 | femijj.com
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