Artist Chris Johanson has been in The Standard retinue for a number years, helping us out with our matchbooks as well as The Standard, Downtown LA's breadspreads (which you can buy here). This summer, Chris brings his signature kaleidoscope of colors and esoteric captions to the MOCA Pacific Design Center.
Within The River of Time Is My Mind, organized by guest curator Andrew Berardini, features new paintings, sculpture, and found wood site-specific installation. Here's what Chris has to say about the MOCA show, written in a very Chris sort of way:
The exhibit is a found wood installation
Will continue and connect the two floors
The theme is the personal river of life connected to the greater river of life
Found wood painted to look like a river
The wood traverses, is connected throughout the space
Also included in the show are paintings of suns over shapes painted like the ocean
Are the suns setting or rising
Only the viewer really knows
Also included in the space are exterior and interior paintings of homes at night
They are included because nighttime is a very good part of the cycle of a day
Letting everything recede into less importance
Yin energy restorative night replenishing your life and preparing you for death
Also included are what appear to be carelessly made multi colored window paintings (that the continual river installation sometimes intersects)
They are not careless, they are carefully carelessly careful to talk about not worrying about what it means to be alive
There is also a large rectangular cube type shape that the viewer can approach, pick up a ball and place on top of and watch the ball slowly go toward the center of the top of rectangle
Why should anyone do that?
It is an exercise in filling up time with actions
I was told on several occasions that filling up time with activities could make a person feel good
Repetitive activities like painting houses or paintings is good for brain chemistry
For creating serotonin
There will be repetitive round aspects to the art in exhibit
Round energy is real
What you do makes who you are some say
Makes what is some say
I have been pondering a version of some of the elements of this show (piece for quite some time)
All the work I have done in my life formulates to make this happen
Chris Johanson, Being In My Life #1, 2013, acrylic, house, watercolor paint on paper, photo by Brian Forrest
Chris Johanson's new show, Within The River of Time Is My Mind, will be on view at MOCA Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles until September 22, 2013. For details, click here.
