wordcrush

After looking at some paintings by burgeoning L.A. artist Chris Johanson, I think you could add to the title above: "...is monstrous." This is not meant as a criticism, but rather an observation on the work's weird blend of joy, exuberance and discomfort. He reminds me a bit of that pomo supergod Jeff Koons, but with a highly topic-appropriate lack of dimension. To hear Johnson speak of his motives reveals little (or perhaps everything) : "I couldn’t possibly give you an honest answer about anything I’m doing, because I’m doing it... Everybody has an amazing amount of denial. I don’t think I know what I’m doing at all. I mean, on some levels, I could tell you about my heart, but at the same time, there’s so much ego involved when you’re dealing with something selfish like . . . your survival. I could tell you more honestly about my love for my wife, or my dog, or my family and friends, but with my art, probably all I could really tell you is that humor and hatred and love are why I do it." It hardly seems like one could accuse Johnson of having too much distance from his subject matter, though looking through some of these works, I wonder if at times he gets too close. Perhaps the whole point is to seduce us into the traps of our own lust for luxury. That was an overly seductive way of putting it, but you get the picture.

P.S. This will be my only post today because I'm out of town.

# posted by Lintropy @ 12:20 AM