Project Description
Lee Johnson
Lee Johnson was born in 1968, raised in Florida, and graduated from New College. Over the years he has studied art with Larry White in Tarpon Springs, Betty Lou Totten and Chris Still in Dunedin, Gail Mead in Sarasota, Leo Neufeld in Albuquerque, and Charles Cecil in Florence.
I am interested in the in the estranging as well as the familiar effects of painting the human body. Hewing close to the naturalness of the human form allows access to its beauty as well as its difficulty, and by “breaking” the forms’ borders and integrity grants access to the haptic evidence of mobile paint. These two modes exist concurrently, the latter allowing the paint to be paint which provides for lush formal moments, and the other giving access to the embodied pleasure of the human form.
Permitting differing forms of representation in one painting reflects the fragmentary nature of attention and perception, and how these forms of attention can be simultaneously present in one visual experience.
It is my hope that this allows viewers to discover different and richer ways of engaging with experience, including their own inner experience. This approach to representing the human body and the space it inhabits provides interest and intense sensation as well as a mild displacement or strangeness which is integral
to the way that change is possible.
There is an inherent narrative aspect in any representation of the human form in space, and it is my intent to depict imagery which is insistent, and at the same time refuses to eliminate any possibility or demand a solitary or even dualistic reading. This reflects the nature of vision and memory, both of which are similarly insistent and unreliable especially as they relate to our own embodied consciousness.
Available Work
Lee Johnson ‘Standing Figure’ Oil on Panel 17” x 24” $5435
Lee Johnson ‘Red Kimono’ Oil on Linen 19”x25” $6675
Lee Johnson ‘Seated Figure’ Oil on Baltic Birch Pane Masterworks Frame With 22k Gold Liner 22.5” x 31.5” $5435
Lee Johnson ‘Standing Figure XIV’ Oil on Mat Board 4” x 6” $520
Lee Johnson ‘Kneeling Figure XXXII’ Oil on Mat Board 6” x 4” $520
Lee Johnson ‘Helios II’ Oil on Mat Board 4” x 6” $520
Lee Johnson ‘Reclining Figure 31’ Oil on Mat Board 16″x12″ $465
Lee Johnson “Standing Figure #19″ Oil on Mat Board 16″x18” $695
Lee Johnson “Standing Figure #65″ Oil on Mat Board 12″x16” $465
Lee Johnson “Figure 71″ Oil on Mat Board 14″x16” $580
Lee Johnson ‘Seated Figure 39’ Oil on Mat Board 16″x12″ $465
Lee Johnson ‘Standing Figure 64’ Oil on Mat Board 12″x16″ $465
Lee Johnson ‘Standing Figure 24’ Oil on Board 12″x16″ $465
Lee Johnson ‘Seated Figure 44’ Oil on Mat Board 11.5″x9.5″ $465
Lee Johnson ‘Spring II’ Oil on Canvas 8” x 10” $695
Past Work
Lee Johnson ‘Kneeling Figure 12’ Oil on Mat Board 10.5”x13” SOLD
Lee Johnson ‘Standing Figure 22’ Oil on Mat Board 9”x11” SOLD
Lee Johnson ‘Rebecca’ 32×21″ Oil on Canvas SOLD
Lee Johnson ‘Descent’ 36×10″ Oil on Canvas SOLD
Lee Johnson ‘Untitled’ 25×41″ Oil on Canvas SOLD
Lee Johnson ‘Helios VIII’ Oil on Mat Board 6” x 8” SOLD
Lee Johnson “Reclining Figure #43″Oil on Mat Board 14″x11” SOLD
Lee Johnson “Helios #4″ Oil on Mat Board 12″x16” SOLD
Lee Johnson ‘Reclining Figure 70’ Oil on Panel 10″x8″ SOLD
Lee Johnson ‘Male Figure 83’ Oil on Mat Board 11.5″x9.5″ SOLD
sold
Lee Johnson “Figure 85″ Oil on Mat Board 14″x16” SOLD
Lee Johnson ‘Mary’ Oil on Panel 23.5” x 18.5”
Videos
C.V.
Education
1985-1987 Betty Lou Totten, DFACC, Dunedin, FL
1987-1991 New College, Sarasota, FL
1995-1997 Leo Neufeld, Albuquerque, NM
1997-2000 Charles H. Cecil Studios, Florence, Italy
Grants & Awards
1987 Freida Turner Memorial Grant
1990 Women’s Exchange Continuing Education Grant
1998 Camille Claudel Foundation Grant
1999 Camille Claudel Foundation Grant
2000 Camille Claudel Foundation Grant
2005 Central Piedmont Regional Hub Grant
Exhibitions
1986 Ruth Eckerd Hall, National Society of Arts & Letters, St. Petersburg, FL
1991 College Hall, New College, Sarasota, FL: Solo Exhibition
1992 Vohrees Gallery, Sarasota, FL
1993 Mildred Sainer Music & Arts Pavilion, Sarasota, FL
2002 Exploris Museum, Raleigh, NC
2004 Horace Williams House, Chapel Hill, NC: Solo Exhibition
2006 Spartanburg Art Musem, Spartanburg, SC: Mid-Atlantic
Group
2007 Visual Arts Center of Richmond, Richmond, VA: Mid-Atlantic Group
2012 EMPAC Arts Center, Enfield, NC: Solo Exhibition
2016 The Figure Revealed, Adam Cave Fine Art, Raleigh NC
2021 The Human Spirit, Casco Bay Artisans, Casco Bay, ME
2022 ArtFields, Lake City, SC
