Essays by artist Ashley Johnson
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A few words about ASHLEY JOHNSON from guest curator Julie Oakes:
Ashley Johnson was inventing alternative ways of exhibiting in a fraught South Africa before he left. Imagery that was shocking or dislocating on first seeing Ashley Johnson's paintings was a result of a personal incomprehension of the narrative's origins. Also a committed writer, the text that accompanied his first exhibition at Headbones Gallery in Toronto was a way into the information behind his unique visual vocabulary and it added to my world view. Ashley Johnson's work became the cornerstone of the NEOPRIEST (New Pop Realists Intellectually Engaged in Storytelling) aesthetic that then reciprocally also defined Headbones Gallery. Almost twenty-five years since he arrived, Ashley Johnson continues to wake up the neighbourhood.
The global village first cited by Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan was less possible in countries with short sighted political calculations where the instrumentalization of identity that imposed restrictions on artistic and intellectual freedom was constricting. Canada has fertile soil for cultural and artistic transformation as the arts are legislated towards acceptance and recognition. Not only does Canada better support the flourishing of artists like these three, but Canadians are given an opportunity for enrichment as inherent insights trickle through and water our own gardens. Moraru, Meraji and Johnson strengthen the gene pool of the visual arts here in Canada, adding to the healthy diversity of our cultural river.
About the exhibition WHAT TRICKLES THROUGH featuring artwork by Ortansa Moraru, Mahmoud Meraji, and Ashley Johnson. All of the artists respresented here, were artists in their country of origin before they immigrated to Canada. The works presented here were all created in Canada at more than an arms length from the birthplaces of these artists - Ortansa Moraru, born in Romania arrived in Canada in 2002; Mahmoud Meraji, born in Iran in 1998 and Ashley Johnson, born in South Africa moved from Johannesburg to Toronto in 2005. All are now Canadian citizens.
Ashley Johnson was inventing alternative ways of exhibiting in a fraught South Africa before he left. Imagery that was shocking or dislocating on first seeing Ashley Johnson's paintings was a result of a personal incomprehension of the narrative's origins. Also a committed writer, the text that accompanied his first exhibition at Headbones Gallery in Toronto was a way into the information behind his unique visual vocabulary and it added to my world view. Ashley Johnson's work became the cornerstone of the NEOPRIEST (New Pop Realists Intellectually Engaged in Storytelling) aesthetic that then reciprocally also defined Headbones Gallery. Almost twenty-five years since he arrived, Ashley Johnson continues to wake up the neighbourhood.
The global village first cited by Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan was less possible in countries with short sighted political calculations where the instrumentalization of identity that imposed restrictions on artistic and intellectual freedom was constricting. Canada has fertile soil for cultural and artistic transformation as the arts are legislated towards acceptance and recognition. Not only does Canada better support the flourishing of artists like these three, but Canadians are given an opportunity for enrichment as inherent insights trickle through and water our own gardens. Moraru, Meraji and Johnson strengthen the gene pool of the visual arts here in Canada, adding to the healthy diversity of our cultural river.
About the exhibition WHAT TRICKLES THROUGH featuring artwork by Ortansa Moraru, Mahmoud Meraji, and Ashley Johnson. All of the artists respresented here, were artists in their country of origin before they immigrated to Canada. The works presented here were all created in Canada at more than an arms length from the birthplaces of these artists - Ortansa Moraru, born in Romania arrived in Canada in 2002; Mahmoud Meraji, born in Iran in 1998 and Ashley Johnson, born in South Africa moved from Johannesburg to Toronto in 2005. All are now Canadian citizens.
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