Bio
“Experimental evidence produced since the creation of Einstein’s Special Theory confirms that space and time are in fact elastic and interdependent. Jay Mark Johnson’s studies are plays upon the relative mutability of our physical reality.” — Lebbeus Woods.
Jay Mark Johnson produces artworks aimed at engaging the community in critical dialogue.
Throughout his career, in work spanning the disciplines of drawing, painting, sculpture, filmmaking, architecture, performance, and photography, he has made visible the intersection of human nature, human society and humanity’s relationship to the natural world.
Johnson studied architecture at Tulane University in New Orleans and at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York City. Through the early 1980s, his associations with architects Peter Eisenman, Rem Koolhaas, Aldo Rossi and Lebbeus Woods enabled him to explore questions of representation and time in both built and conceptual architecture. During this period the Museum of Modern Art, NYC acquired his model reconstruction of Ivan Leonidov’s 1927 Dom Narkomjaztpromp. He was also commissioned by the Smithsonian Institute to reconstruct Buckminster Fuller’s 1927 Dymaxion House. Later, that piece was also acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, NYC.
For the remainder of the ‘80s, Johnson was engaged in performance art, collaborating with Robbie McCauley, Lindzee Smith, V-Effect and others on performances at Theater for a New City, Laight Again Club, Pyramid Club, Henry Street Settlement, and The Kitchen, in New York; and at Seward Hall UCLA, and L.A.C.E., in Los Angeles. He collaborated, as well, with visual artists including Kiki Smith, Nan Goldin and Jimmie Durham.
It was during this period that Johnson began his ongoing political activism, co-founding an alternative television collective, reporting and writing for the Pacifica Network (broadcast radio), and producing graphic work, including the “Postcard Action” series, which is in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution and the Art Institute of Chicago.
In the late 1980s, Johnson moved to Central America where he co-founded two more television collectives in Mexico and El Salvador, at the height of political unrest in those countries. He wrote, directed and produced television campaigns for the political organization, the FMLN, while increasingly mastering digital video technology.
At the end of 1991, Johnson returned to Los Angeles, where he eventually became a cinema director with broad experience in visual effects production, having supervised, directed or otherwise contributed to the computer generated imagery for nearly a dozen major studio films and television series, including The Matrix, Titanic, Tank Girl, Outbreak, White Oleander, and music videos for Michael Jackson, Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers and others.
Having discovered the many ways that a limited understanding of human nature can hinder the advancement of progressive causes, he devoted two years to graduate study in Linguistic Anthropology and Biological Anthropology at UCLA. Additional years of study focused on reading in the cognitive sciences.
Although his first experiments in timeline imagery date back to the early 1990‘s, his current SPACETIME photographic series began in earnest in 2003. Over the course of this project he increasingly applied the full range of his experiences, from visual arts and cinema to studies in the anthropological and cognitive sciences. Work from this period is in the permanent collections of the Riechstag building of the German Bundestag in Berlin, the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie at Karlsruhe, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, the Phoenix Art Museum, the Langen Foundation, Hombroich, Germany, the Peter Klein Museum Kunstwerk, Eberdingen, Germany, the collection of Michael G. Wilson, the Milken Family Foundation, Santa Monica and the Fidelity Corporate Art Collection, Boston.
The artist was born in 1955 in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. Since 1996 Johnson has resided intermittently in Paris, Antwerp, Rome and rural Italy. He currently lives and works in Santa Monica, California.
RECENT SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 NO STONE UNTURNED, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2020 X = TIME, Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA
2019 SEE WHAT I MEAN, Eyes On Main, Los Angeles, CA
2018 IT’S ABOUT TIME, William Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2016 SIDESHOW SIEM REAP, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2015 NO STONE UNTURNED, Wildwood School, Los Angeles, CA
2015 WAVE LENGTHS, William Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015 TIMELINES, Colburn School of Music, Los Angeles, CA
2015 PHOTO LA 2015, Los Angeles, CA
2014 EN LA MADRIX, Instituto Municipal de Arte y Cultura de Puebla, MX
2014 LINEA DEL TIEMPO, Palacio Municipal, Instituto Municipal de Arte y Cultura de Puebla, MX
2014 #inwheeltime, MOPLA. LUCIE Foundation, Los Angeles, CA USA
2014 PHOTO LA 2014, William Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA USA
2013 NO SUCH PLACE, William Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA USA
2013 PHOTO LA 2013, Los Angeles, CA USA
2012 NO SUCH PLACE, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney AU
2012 THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, Christ Church, Oxford University UK
2012 SPACETIME: Beyond the Constraints of Perception. UCLA Cotsen Institute, Los Angeles, CA USA
2012 PHOTO LA 2012, Los Angeles, CA USA
2011 TEMPO LINEARE, La Botte Ristorante, Los Angeles CA USA
2011 EL ANARQUISTA Y EL AUTOMOVIL, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2011 MOTION STUDIES, Kunstforum Essenheim, Esseheim DE
2011 VENICE SPACEWALK, Venice Family Clinic & Animal West, Los Angeles, CA USA
2010 VENICE SPACEWALK, Venice Family Clinic, Los Angeles, CA USA
2009 SCOPE BASEL 09, Galerie Deschler, Basel CH
2009 PRISCILLA ELECTRIC LODGE, German Consulate, Basel CH
2009 SPACETIME, ACE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA USA
2008 SWEPT AWAY, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2008 NEW WORK HAMBURG, aplanat Galerie für Photography, Hamburg DE
2007 MOTION STUDIES, aplanat Galerie für Photografie, Hamburg DE
2007 MOTION STUDIES, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2007 TEMPO LINEARE, Cetona, Toscana, IT
2007 TAICHI MOTION STUDIES, aplanat Galerie für Fotographie, Hamburg DE
RECENT GROUP EXHIBITIONS AND ART FAIRS
2019 PHOTO LA 2019, Los Angeles, CA
2018 DIGITAL LANDSCAPES, Villa Franke, Potsdam DE
2018 VELVET LAND, Černá labuť Gallery, Prague, CZ
2018 BETWEEN TWO SEAS, M.A.A.A.C.Museum, Cisternino, Puglia, IT
2018 SCHWARZ/WEISS, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2018 VENICE ART WALK & AUCTIONS, Venice Family Clinic, Los Angeles, CA USA
2018 ART HISTORY, INTERRUPTED, CMay Galley, Los Angeles, CA
2017 KAIROS CASTLE, Kasteel Van Gaasbeek, Lennik, BE
2017 MUSIC AND ART RESOUND, Art Share, Los Angeles, CA
2017 PHOTO LA 2017, Los Angeles, CA
2017 FOCAL PLANES, Chungking Studios, Los Angeles, CA
2016 ALTERED REALITY, Weisman Art Museum, Pepperdine University, Malibu CA
2016 WINTER SETTING, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2016 KUNST 16 ZURICH, Galerie Deschler, Zurich CZ
2015 MADE IN CALIFORNIA, Weisman Art Foundation,Mana Contemporary, Miami, FL
2015 ETHEREAL, William Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015 GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2015 SUMMER SETTING, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2014 MIGRATIONS, Palacio Municipal, Instituto Municipal de Arte y Cultura de Puebla, MX
2014 IMPERMANCE, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2014 LINEA DEL TIEMPO, Palacio Municipal, Instituto Municipal de Arte y Cultura de Puebla, MX
2014 LA ART SHOW, Art All Ways, Los Angeles, CA USA
2014 GALLERY WEEKEND, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2013 SNAP! ORLANDO, Orlando, FL US
2013 LEBBEUS WOODS, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA USA
2013 LUMINOUS, Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA USA
2013 ARTIST OF THE GALLERY, ACE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA USA
2012 IN THE WOODS, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2012 IN THE PICTURES, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2012 PACIFIC STANDARD TIME, Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard
2012 SCOPE BASEL 2012, Galerie Deschler, Basel CH
2012 VENICE ART WALK & AUCTIONS, Venice Family Clinic, Los Angeles, CA USA
2012 ONE SHOT THE CITY The Loft at Liz’s, Los Angeles, CA USA
2012 ART FOR CLAIRE, Santa Monica, CA USA
2012 ARTWORKS FOR THE CURE, Los Angeles, CA USA
2012 WINTER SETTING, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2011 PREVIEW BERLIN, Berlin DE
2011 SCOPE BASEL 2011, Galerie Deschler, Basel CH
2011 SOLID STRIPES, LAUNCH LA,Los Angeles, CA USA
2011 ART FOR CLARE, Santa Monica, CA USA
2011 PHOTO LA 2011, Los Angeles, CA USA
2011 IN THE PICTURES, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2011 CULTURE, ART, TECHNOLOGY, Sixth College, University of California at San Diego, CA USA
2011 ART KARLSRUHE, Galerie Deschler, Karlsruhe DE
2010 ELEMENTS OF NATURE, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA USA
2010 TECHNICAL MATTERS, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2010 CONTEMPORARY ISTANBUL, 2010, Istanbul TK
2010 SHFT.com, Estee Lauder, New York City USA
2010 PREVIEW BERLIN, Berlin DE
2010 SWELL: art 1950 2010 Metro Pictures, Nyehaus, Friedrich Petzel, NYC USA
2010 NEW DEPARTURES, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2010 ART KARLSRUHE, Galerie Deschler, Karlsruhe DE
2010 SCOPE BASEL 2010, Galerie Deschler, Basel CH
2010 VENICE ART WALK & AUCTIONS, Venice Family Clinic, Los Angeles, CA USA
2010 PHOTOS AND PHANTASY, Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles, CA USA
2010 SHFT.com, Los Angeles, CA USA
2010 CHARITYBUZZ AUCTION, Christie’s, NYC, NY USA
2009 ART KARLSRUHE, Galerie Deschler, Karlsruhe DE
2009 PHOTO LA 2009, ACE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA USA
2009 SUMMER SETTING, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2008 PHOTOS AND PHANTASY, Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA USA
2008 PHOTO LA 2008, ACE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA USA
2008 UNSTKORPERLICH, Kunsthalle, Osnabruck DE
2008 ART KARLSRUHE, Galerie Deschler, Karlsruhe DE
2007 PHOTO LA 2007, ACE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA USA
2007 TRIBUTE TO IRVING PENN, apalant Galerie für Photografie, Hamburg DE
2007 TECHNICAL MATTERS, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
2007 TRIBUTE TO IRVING PENN, aplanat Galerie für Fotographie, Hamburg DE
2006 WINTER SETTING, Galerie Deschler, Berlin DE
ARTWORK IN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS
ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, Chicago
BUNDESTAG (German Parliament) Reichstag Building, Berlin DE
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF POLITICAL GRAPHICS, Los Angeles CA
COLBURN SCHOOL OF MUSIC, Los Angeles CA
FIDELITY CORPORATE ART COLLECTION, Boston MA
ALISON AND PETER KLEIN, MUSEUM KUNSTWERK, Eberdingen DE
INSTITUTO MUNICIPAL DE ARTE Y CULTURAL DE PUEBLA, Puebla MX
LANGEN FOUNDATION, Hombroich DE
MILKEN FAMILY FOUNDATION, Santa Monica CA
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, New York City NY
PHOENIX ART MUSEUM, Phoenix AZ
SIMMS / MANN FAMILY FOUNDATION, Los Angeles CA
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Traveling Exhibition Service, Washington D.C.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Division of Political History, Washington D.C.
FREDERICK R. WEISMAN ART FOUNDATION, Los Angeles CA
ZENTRUM FÜR KUNST UND MEDIENTENOLOGIE, Karlsruhe DE
SELECTED QUOTATIONS
“Jay Mark Johnson’s remarkable photographs of waves possess the same insistent energy and drama that I find in the great seascapes of J.M.W.Turner currently on view at the Getty Museum.”
— Christopher Finch, artist, author
“Johnson’s work applies the methods of modular repetition associated with ‘minimalist’ composers such as Philip Glass and Steve Reich to photographic imagery — with the same fluid grace and delight in patterning found in that music.”
— Peter Frank, art critic, editor
“Johnson’s pictures look nothing like the world as we know it, and they are not really meant to. Yet still, their brain-melting relationship to the truth remains unassailable. The best thing to do is just relax, and let art and science blow your mind.”
— Shana Nys Dambrot, art critic, editor
“A provocative blend of lyricism and scientific scrutiny, perhaps the most exciting aspect of Johnson’s photography is that it tugs photography away from the gravitational pull of Euclidean documentation–which has dominated the field since its beginnings–and prods it towards new and ambitious aesthetic and intellectual goals”.
— Christopher Finch, artist, author
“Johnson uses these wonderful and striking renderings of familiar scenes to tell his story in new and imaginative ways. He has made the rare marriage of art and science to create something new and truly special.”
— Barry C. Barish – 2017 Nobel Laureate in Physics
“American artist, Jay Mark Johnson has developed an amazing and unconventional approach to photography. His “Spacetime“ images function like timelines: the motives are captured during a certain span of time, thus merging the recording of space and time into a single, linear “spacetime” continuum…”
— Simone Kraft, writer, editor
“Johnson’s work offers an artistic exploration and rethinking of the relationship between humans, our machines, and the natural world.”
— Yael Wolinsky-Nahmias, author, editor
“We use lightning fast technologies to speak with each other, collapsing the space and time that separate us. Fortunately, we still move our bodies around at a slower pace, allowing us to experience distinct places and, with them, our distinct identities.”
— Jay Mark Johnson
“We surround ourselves with machines. They shape our experiences, and with them, our thoughts. We travel in cars, trains and planes, encapsulated in tiny vessels, isolated from the outside world. And the faster we race across the landscape, the more it becomes a blur.”
— Jay Mark Johnson
“Am I dreaming some impossible dream? Or just taking a reading with my spacetime machine?”
— Jay Mark Johnson
ADDITIONAL WORK OF RELEVANCE
THEATRE AND PERFORMANCE ART (1983-1994)
1994 THE OTHER WEAPON (McCauley) Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA USA
1994 THE OTHER WEAPON (McCauley) Highways, Los Angeles, CA USA
1994 THE OTHER WEAPON (McCauley) Seward Hall, University of California at Los Angeles, CA USA
1987 INDIAN BLOOD (McCauley) The Kitchen, NYC, NY USA
1986 THE HOUR BEFORE MY BROTHER DIES (Keene) Interart Theatre, NYC, NY USA
1986 WHAT’S UP ZACK? (Purdy) Laight Again Club, NYC, NY USA
1986 MY GRANDFATHER AND THE WARS (McCaulley) Henry Street Settlement, NYC, NY USA
1984 MY FATHER BELONGED TO THE FBI BUT I WAS A SOVIET SPY (Zonzinzky) The Kitchen, NYC, NY USA
1984 RANCHO NOTORIOUS (Lang) The Pyramid Club, NYC, NY USA
1983 LOCAL STIGMATIC (H. Williams) Laight Again Club, NYC, NY USA
1983 THE DAILY ACTIVITIES OF SLAVES, (Altomare) The Pyramid Club, NYC, NY USA
1982 THE DAILY ACTIVITIES OF SLAVES, (Altomare)Theatre For a New CIty, NYC, NY USA
PRINT GRAPHICS (1983-1994)
1992 – 94 COVERT ACTION QUARTERLY, Cover Art, Editorial Cartoons, etc Washington D.C. USA
1984 – 88 BLACK CAT GRAPHICS COLLECTIVE, Political Posters, Silkscreen, NYC NY USA
1986 – 89 CENTRO LIBRE DE EXPERIMENTACION TEATRAL Y ARTISTICA, Mexico D.F. MX
1986 WOMEN OF ALL RED NATIONS, Political Posters, Silkscreen, NYC, NY USA
1984 CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS, Political Cartoons, NYC, NY USA
1984 DECEMBER 12TH COALITION, Graphics, Banners, NYC, NY USA
1983 POSTCARD ACTION, Mail Art Project, NYC, NY USA
1982 – 83 EL SALVADOR MEDIA PROJECT, Graphics, NYC, NY USA
INDEPENDENT VIDEO PRODUCTION – NARRATIVE, DOCUMENTARY, P.S.A.
1993 OZONE (Greenpeace) Director, Bombshell Productions, Los Angeles, CA USA
1990 – 91 PUBLICART, Director, Political Campaigns, Commercials, San Salvador, SV
1987 – 89 COLLECTIVO DE CINE POPULAR – FUEGO NUEVO, Director, Mexico D.F. MX
1984 XCHANGE TV, Co-founder, Political Documentaries, Manhattan Cable, NYC, NY
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN (1979 – 1984)
1984 BUCKMINSTER FULLER, Dymaxion House (1927), Smithsonian Institution, Wash. D.C. USA
1982-84 MICHAEL FIELDMAN PARTNERS, Design, Drawings, Paintings, New York City NY USA
1982-84 LEBBEUS WOODS, Drawings, Models, NYC, NY USA
1980-81 PETER EISENMAN, Drawings, Models, NYC, NY USA
1980-81 ALDO ROSSI, Drawings, Paintings, Models, Milano, IT
MORE COMPLETE PDF AND DOC FILES FOR PRINT AND EDITORIAL
For a complete Curriculum Vitae contact studio@jaymarkjohnson.com.