Dion Johnson: Optic Energy

Holly Johnson Gallery in Dallas is pleased to announce an upcoming solo exhibition by Los Angeles – based artist Dion Johnson. The exhibition titled ‘Optic Energy’ marks the artist’s solo debut at the gallery and features new paintings and works on paper.  ‘Optic Energy’ will be on view November 19 – February 4. A reception will be held, November 19 from 5-8 pm.

Johnson’s paintings and works on paper combine and explore dynamic opposites: expansiveness and compression, darkness and light. Johnson’s intuitive use of color evokes the contemporary urban, digital and natural landscape, and skews the vocabulary of abstraction into a hybrid techno-language. His compositions use broad open shapes with convex/concave edges against multi-planed bands, evoking atmospheric spatial shifts. Whether observing the curvature of freeway interchanges or bright noon daylight, Johnson’s work is a clear balance of the harmonic and dissonant qualities in our environment.

Los Angeles Times art critic David Pagel writes of Johnson’s work, “These seemingly calm arrangements of gently curved shapes, in a sumptuously saturated and wildly unnatural palette, are anything but wallflowers. They play with scale like nobody’s business, filling the empty space around them with inclusive, user-friendly snippets of imagined symphonies. As quickly as they energize the space around them, Johnson’s idiosyncratic compositions set up kinky rhythms—beats and echoes that lead one way only to be interrupted by any number of possibilities.”

Dion Johnson received his MFA from the prestigious Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California (2000) and his BFA from The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio (1997). His works have been exhibited extensively in gallery and museum exhibitions across the U.S. and is in many public and private collections such as: Ameriprise Advisors, Columbus, Ohio; The Capital Group Companies, Los Angeles, California; The Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio; Copelouzos Family Art Museum, Athens, Greece; Creative Artists Agency, Century City, California; Pizutti Collection, Columbus, Ohio; Progressive Corporation, Mayfield Village, Ohio; Twitter, Inc., Santa Monica, California; Wellington Management, Boston, Massachusetts; The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas; and many more.

Johnson’s work has been reviewed and featured in articles in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, ARTnews, Artforum, The Huffington Post, L.A. Weekly, Art Week, Droste Effect Magazine, Artillery Magazine, Art Scene and others.

Holly Johnson Gallery is located in the Dallas Design District at 1845 Levee St; #100, Dallas, Texas 75207. Gallery hours are 11:00 am to 5:00 pm, Tuesday-Saturday and by appointment. For more information about this exhibition, please call 214-369-0169, email info@hollyjohnsongallery.com, or visit www.hollyjohnsongallery.com.