About
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Mark Johnson was born in New York City in 1964, and currently lives and works in New York and Portland, Maine. He received a BA from Oberlin College and an MA from New York University. His paintings and prints have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in the United States and abroad, including Planthouse Gallery (New York, NY), Susan Maasch Fine Art (Portland, ME) and the International Print Center New York. His work is included in the book, Color: A Workshop for Artists and Designers, by David Hornung. Mark also has an ongoing involvement in architecture, which includes designing and building a residential house and small cabins.

Artist Statement

In 1969 two events happened that were profoundly influential: watching the first human walk on the moon and my family moving to India for a year. These two events, one taking place in the cosmos and the other on earth, opened up a seemingly boundless world to me, which has become both the foundation of my world view and approach to art. 

Storm, Fog and Moon Paintings

The experience of living for extended periods of time on Pumpkin Knob, a small island in Casco Bay Maine without electricity or running water, is at the core of my paintings. I am literally surrounded by weather, tides, moon cycles, cloud formations and the play of wind, all offering a world in constant motion and flux. The physical landscape and the transient states of the sea and sky, provide endless opportunities to explore an ongoing interest in combining opposites – abstraction and representation, movement and stillness, near and far, the known and the unknown – while also underscoring my view of art as both a form of communication and a means for contemplation.

Storms and fog have been central subjects, and what started as a new painting challenge of a perpetually dynamic subject, more and more has become a metaphor for our times.

Space, Time and Dark Matter Paintings

The recent observations by the Hubble and Webb telescopes have greatly expanded our ability to see the Universe and posit questions about what we observe and how we explain what we observe. The Space and Time series of paintings contemplate the questions that arise from these observations, such as when did the Universe begin and how did it develop from this starting point?

Prints

Dark Matter is a series of prints (digital, silkscreen, and etching) interpreting the elusive dark matter and energy that constitutes ninety-six percent of the universe. To appreciate the implications of this percentage, realize that all the visible matter constitutes only four percent of the matter in the universe.  The images consider ideas of dark matter and energy combined with views of our solar system and distant galaxies.

Chart Series is a group of intaglio prints created using the most advance forms of digital media in tandem with intaglio and relief print techniques. They are the result of years of experimental research in new ways of combining established and emerging forms of media.