Description
New Zealand-born Australian artist George Johnson, who with close colleagues Roger Kemp and Leonard French introduced abstract painting to Melbourne audiences in the 1950s, is one of abstraction’s most intentioned and vigorous proponents. His strongly geometric works have surfed three distinct waves of abstract painting and are frequently shown.
Patrick Hutchings, Jenny Zimmer and the artist himself outline the sources of Johnson’s use of Geometric Abstraction to express his philosophy of life; examine his studio practices from sketchbooks to major paintings; outline the trajectory of his career with the numerous exhibitions which have presented his works nationally between 1956 and 2021; and trace aspects of his critical acclaim.
Beautifully illustrated, with portraits of the artist, studio shots, photos of exhibition installations and reproductions of major works on canvas. Emphasis is also placed on a lesser-known series of small works on paper painted in 1995–96. Presented as three distinct sections, these small paintings celebrate Johnson’s unique and meaningful compositions of triangular, rectangular and circular forms.
