Seeing Reality or Seeing Real Paintings

I have to admit: I can be bribed! Or how should I call my response when I received a beautiful art book in my mail box which prompted me to write this post? At least I believe in what I am writing but to tell the truth, I did not plan on talking about Mitchell Johnson's paintings so soon again. But before we get started take a look at the painter in his Open Air Studio and watch him seeing the world with his brush, paint, and canvas!


Mitchell Johnson painting near Montalcino, Italy, 1996

You have at least three choices where and how to see his work, clearly the best is to see the real thing, the paintings themselves. Several shows are coming up, the first being the San Francisco International Art Exposition next week at Fort Mason in the booth #152 of his New York dealer, the J. Cacciola Gallery, January 14th - 17th.

Another one, even closer to my home, will take place during the month of February at Cafe Borrone right next to Kepler's bookstore in Menlo Park. See Mitchell's web site for all the details on these and other shows. Actually, his web site is the other option to get a glimpse of his work. What you loose in size and presence of the paintings and the textures of colors and paint you gain in convenience, the internet is so fast and easy. Another nice way to take some pictures home with you and keep them readily accessable is to purchase the recently published book covering his work. If you can not make it to Kepler's you can buy it online from Amazon.com. An additional benefit of the printed version is that it comes with useful background information about the painter and his work. In particular, there is the introductory essay by poet and friend Peter Campion. I like Peter's writing and offer you a small excerpt here to wet your appetite:

"Whether plein air or in the studio, Mitchell Johnson revels in the act of painting. His airy, sun-splashed landscapes of Italy, Northern California and New Mexico vibrate with an energy culled from painting on site. The seemingly casual nature of his compositions the results of a dedicated studio practice. Schooled in the rigors of New York abstraction, Johnson does not abandon representation but rather constructs a context for it: color becomes form, line becomes definition, and paint becomes space. With these tools Mitchell Johnson presents us with his unique vision of the world."

So what was it again that we were supposed to be looking at? I only remember that it was real. Who cares whether it was a landscape, a painting, a web site, or a book.