Ashley Johnson

I have an affinity for animals, growing up in a rural South African village surrounded by these sentient creatures. South Africa is synonymous with wildlife like elephants, rhino, lions and baboons. Parks protect species but poaching is rife and canned hunting persists.

The most pressing issue of our century is environmental degradation. My paintings are about oceanic, animal and human socio-environmental issues. Human society is alienated from animals. To reduce this, animals and environment could be amalgamated into human cultural experience; separations of 'identity' need to be 'loosened'.

My paintings require the overlay of various elements. Charcoal energy lines are swamped in a paint-staining process that introduces flowing forms. Lines delineating architectural space are superimposed over portions of representational imagery. Compositions are balanced yet retain duration. The goal is to make a complex, visually stimulating experience that will engage the imagination. I reduce the identity of pictorial elements to interlace the whole with a sense of fluidity that embraces ambiguity and contradiction.

I engage Indigenous poetic myths including the Kraken and Hydra aiming at a metaphorical rather than literal exposi...

1982 Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art, (BAFA) University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

EXHIBITION HISTORY
2017 "Marginaux et Francs-tireurs", La Maison de la Culture Frontenac, Montreal, Oct 2017
2017 “Crimes Against Animality”, (solo) Headbones Gallery, Vernon BC, TBA
2015 “Loosening Identity”, Lecture and Exhibition, (solo) Articsok Gallery, Toronto, March
2015 Inspirazione Divino, Articsok Gallery, Toronto, Mar 19- April 25
2014 Summer Salon, Yumart Gallery, Toronto, July 26 – August 16
2014 Ubuntu, Articsok Gallery, Toronto, May - June
2014 Goat Song, Yumart Gallery, Toronto
2013 “mindFULLnest”, BREAL, Grow-Op, Gladstone Hotel, Toronto
2013 Auction: In Aid of Diane Victor, FADA Gallery, University of Johannesburg, SA
2013 Salonus Papyrus, Headbones Gallery, Vernon, BC, Dec 7 – Jan 4
2013 Toronto International Art Fair, De Luca Gallery, Toronto
2012 Paintslam #3, Fran Hill Gallery, Toronto
2010 Ashley Johnson Primal, Arts on Main, (solo) Gallery 111, Johannesburg, South Africa
2010 Toronto International Art Fair, Headbones Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2010 Papier 10 Contemporary Art Fair, Headbones Gallery, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
2009 Neopriest, Definitely Superior Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
2009 Paper Salon & Slasher Sale, Headbones Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2009 Toro...