New Work

Christine Johnson is represented by Fox Galleries

Christine Johnson
Firmam​ent
June-July 2018

​Firmament

“Das Firmament blaut ewig “
The sky is forever blue
 
from Das Lied von der Erde, (The Song of the Earth) by Gustav Mahler
 
There is no distinction between the form and content of these images, they serve simply as a reminder to behold the wonder of the sky above. The beauty of the sky and the revelation of its content are identical.
 
Without the ever-changing veil of the atmosphere, the sky would be black. We would see straight out into the black infinity of space. In recognition of this fact, I have used a dark ground for these pictures, the black vanishes behind the veils of paint.
 
The sky is the largest natural phenomenon which can be seen by everyone on earth. The sky and the air we breathe unify us as human beings. I imagine that every day we all look up at least once, into the blue.
 
Blue, symbol of hope, represents infinity, wonder and universal beauty. Contemplating the firmament, “the boundless span of heaven’s vault”,(1) stills the mind into silence and amazement and has been for centuries an inspiration to composers, poets, scientists, philosophers and artists.
 
In Haydn’s glorious oratorio, The Creation (composed 1796-1798), on the Fourth Day, the angel Uriel sings
 
And God said,
Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven
to divide the day from the night,
and to give light upon the earth;
and let them be for signs and for seasons,
 
Romanticism, the counter-movement to the late 18th century Age of Enlightenment, sought to reunite man with nature. When the great polymath Alexander von Humboldt and scientist Aimé Bonpland climbed Mt Chimborazo in Ecuador in 1810, Humboldt attempted to capture the aesthetic qualities of the sky by using a Cyanometer, an instrument designed to help the observer measure the quality of the intensity of the blue of the sky.
 
Mahler’s symphonic song cycle, Das Lied von Der Erde, (The Song of the Earth) composed in 1908 reaches into the infinity of space and time:
 
Das Firmament blaut ewig, und die Erde
Wird lange fest steh'n und aufblüh'n im Lenz.
……. Allüberall und ewig blauen licht die Fernen!
Ewig... ewig...
 
 
The heavens are ever blue and the Earth
shall stand sure, and blossom in the spring.
……. Everywhere and forever blue is the horizon!
Forever ... Forever ...
 
Before all of the above, in The Divine Comedy, (long a touchstone for me), Dante wrote ecstatically of the Empyrean, the Heavens in his Paradiso and in the more earthly Purgatorio:
 
Sweet colour of oriental sapphire,
That was upgathered in the cloudless aspect
Of the pure air, as far as the first circle
Unto mine eyes did recommence delight
(Canto I, line 13, Purgatorio)
 
As a painter, I am drawn to Titian’s Venus Rising from the Sea (National Galleries, Edinburgh, Scotland). The background is almost all sky, of a blue likely made from ultramarine, an expensive pigment made from ground lapis lazuli, found mostly in Afghanistan, which in its natural state is speckled with “stars” of iron pyrite, making it resemble the firmament.
 
For me the focus of this project has been observing the sky in all its various states of light - blue, grey, cloudy and cloudless - and finding a way to make a small field of canvas and oil paint draw the mind into the contemplation of something beyond measure.

Christine Johnson
June 2018

1. Haydn’s The Creation

 

Christine Johnson

​Florae

Fox Galleries, 79 Langridge Street, Collingwood, Vic. 3066
June 15 - July 5, 2017
foxgalleries.com.au/ForthcomingExhibition/

​Would you like to make a tax-deductible Cultural Gift to Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre?
A small collection of my paintings are on loan to Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne.
You could help make the paintings part of the permanent collection at Peter Mac.
All the works have been independently valued and are available for immediate purchase and donation.
The purchase process will be handled free of charge or commission by my new gallerist and accountant, Michael Fox.
He will co-ordinate and facilitate the acquisition of the paintings with the curator at Peter Mac, Svetlana Karovich.
Michael Fox is an expert on taxation law and the Cultural Gifts Program and he is happy to answer any questions you might have about the process. Read more about making a Cultural Gift
Please use the contact form below for a list of available works.
or contact
Michael Fox
Arts Accountant & Valuer
BCom (Acc) UQ, MTax Melb, IPA, AVAA
79 Langridge Street, Collingwood Vic 3066
PO Box 603, South Yarra VIC 3141
T: + 61 3 8560 3583 │M: +61 4 1874 1726 | E: michael@artsaccountants.com.au
LinkedIn | Google+ | www.foxmichael.com.au

PORT JACKSON PRESS - MELBOURNE

Read about the HE Ramsay collection:

http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/news/he-ramsay-collection-print-exhibition
http://portjacksonpress.com.au/artists/christine-johnson​
http://portjacksonpress.com.au/events/christine-johnson-voyages-botanical-inland
​
"When I first saw the Eileen Ramsay collection at the Mildura Arts Centre, I was inspired to create new works to celebrate Ramsay’s important contribution to Australian botany...." read more

BLUE MOUNTAINS CULTURAL CENTRE
Christine Johnson: Voyages Botanical
9 January – 21 February 2016
Voyages Botanical is Christine Johnson’s tribute to the untamed treasures of Australia’s vast native flower garden. It is indeed a voyage: through rare and wonderful landscapes, but also through our botanical heritage and history. Johnson’s delicate and beautifully-realised solar plate engravings of wildflowers are powerful symbols of the vulnerability and fragility of Australia’s natural environment and heritage.
IMAGE: CHRISTINE JOHNSON  Billardiera scandens (A series) 2014
PUBLIC PROGRAMS
​Lunchtime Talk
9 January, 11:00am – 12:00pm
Find out more about the exhibition Voyages Botanical and join Christine (Artist and Recipient of the Creative Fellowship at the State Library of Victoria) for a lunchtime talk.
Johnson’s aim is simple: to tell the story of the early years of the exploration of Australia – but embellishing it by blending art with science, cartography and facsimiles of writings from the explorers’ journals, including the flowers they picked along the way.
Free with Gallery ticket. RSVPs appreciated at Reception or 4780 5410.

​TARRAWARRA MUSEUM OF ART
HOWARD ARKLEY (AND FRIENDS…)Howard Arkley (1951-1999) is one of Australia’s most significant artists. He pursued a singular vision that incorporated aspects of high art and popular culture, such as punk and pop; a love of urban and suburban imagery and architecture; an ongoing preoccupation with pattern and colour; and a life-long dialogue with abstraction.
Howard Arkley (and friends…) includes over 60 paintings by Arkley from 1974 until 1999, featuring a number of works that have not been shown before along with some of his most iconic images. Key paintings have been selected from different periods of his career, including the sparse black and white paintings from the 1970s; his breakthrough into figuration with works such asPrimitive and Tattooed Head; his surreal Zappo and cacti paintings; the electrifying house exteriors and interiors; and his final freeway works.
 The exhibition introduces three distinctive perspectives to Arkley: his archive, his music and his friends. Photographs, visual diaries, sketch books and source material, on loan from the State Library of Victoria, reveal Arkley’s ideas, influences and working methods in developing his images; a selection of tracks from the artist’s record collection played throughout the exhibition, highlights the influence of music on his work; and the inclusion of works by Arkley’s friends and colleagues Alison Burton, Tony Clark, Aleks Danko, Juan Davila, Elizabeth Gower, Christine Johnson, Geoff Lowe, Callum Morton, John Nixon, Kathy Temin, Peter Tyndall, Jenny Watson and Constanze Zikos, provides insights into Arkley’s immersion and influence within a vibrant, artistic milieu.
read more
​5 December 2015 - 28 February 2016
​CURATED BY:
ANTHONY FITZPATRICK AND VICTORIA LYNN

"Suburban Window" Christine Johnson and Howard Arkley

​As artist in residence at THE ART VAULT in Mildura, Victoria, in October 2015,  
Christine Johnson made new work based on the Eileen Ramsay Botanical Collection held at The Mildura Arts Centre.
'Inland' is on display with 'Voyages Botanical' at Rio Vista House at the MILDURA ARTS CENTRE until 14 December 2015.
A small selection of new works from 'Inland' are available at Port jackson Press, Melbourne.
http://www.portjacksonpress.com.au/exhib.php?ex=ls1000407pjpa16848508