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Center Museum California Center for the Arts, Escondido

Center Museum California Center for the Arts, Escondido

Escondido, California

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  • Artist: Jay Johnson (American, b. 1954)

Along time figure on the San Diego art scene, Johnson is at heart a story-teller. His works have been described as elegant observations of the complex layering of everyday life. Johnson's sculpture tends to be wry, often biting observations of life. The sculptures play with both the notions of the everyday object and it’s unstable nature. Johnson is simultaneously gestural and restrained, integrating both painting and sculpture. A small wooden figure, a type of "every-man" character, pops up in many of Johnson's pieces. Whether diligently rowing boats, making art, stacking objects, sleeping or daydreaming; this lone figure seems to represent the artist as a character in day-to-day situations and tableaus. “His personality is in the work, the compulsiveness in the craftsmanship and the disarming directness,” said Hugh Davies, the Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in an interview about the artist.

Reference
https://www.quintgallery.com/exhibitions/111-jay-johnson-once-again-differently-and-other-quint-contemporary-art-7739-fay-avenue/

San Diego based artist, Jay Johnson was born in Berkeley California in 1954 and has been active on the art scene since the 1980s. Johnson has shown his art work both in solo and group exhibitions as well as worked for the County San Diego. Johnson’s art works consist of using multiple media such as wood, metal, paper, clay and even everyday objects he repurposes for his art. Journalist for the Los Angeles Times, Leah Ollman, refers to Johnson ``as a sculptor of consummate craftsmanship whose work in wood is refined, elegant, quirky and poignant.” Johnson’s are known for reflecting his imagination and personality. Although Johnson is known for his multimedia use in his art pieces, it has been his craftsmanship on wood that has been praised as elegant.

Reference
Ollman, Leah. “Into the Wood.” Los Angeles Times. July 27 1997. April 25, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-jul-27-ca-16608-story.html
“Jay Johnson: Looking For Things” Oceanside Museum of Art. May 2013. April 24 2022. https://oma-online.org/past_exhibitions2013/jayjohnson-looking/
San Diego County Art Collection. https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/reusable_components/images/dgs/Documents/COC_Art_Collection.pdf
Drawing for CCAM, Escondido by Jay Johnson, Image 2.
  • Jay Johnson
  • Drawing for CCAM, Escondido, 1995
Charcoal and ink on paper
We Attempt to Contain by Jay Johnson, Image 2.
  • Jay Johnson
  • We Attempt to Contain, 1995
Baltic birch, fabric, and brass
133.5 x 80.5 x 17.25 in
(339.09 x 204.47 x 43.82 cm)
 

Funding provided by the special interest license plate featuring the image of Snoopy, with permission and support from Peanuts Worldwide (Section 5169 of the Vehicle Code) for the Museum Grant Program under the California Cultural and Historical Endowment.

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