(Straight from the Studio)
barry johnson | It’s Me

On view May 7–June 5, 2022 

Nationale introduces its newest exhibition series, Straight from the Studio, presented in three parts and featuring figural painter barry johnson, abstract painter Tanner Lind, and printmaker and painter Shiela Laufer. The impetus for this series was born of intimate conversations with each of the artists surrounding their studio life and the raw inspirations that take place there, away from the public eye. These exhibitions will put on display the varied stages of time spent in the studio, calling gallery goers to take part in this communion. As the harbinger of all work, that studio space holds the utmost significance in the artist’s career allowing room for makers to develop methods, experiment with styles, and take risks. Straight from the Studio is an invitation to support artists at all stages of their career, focusing on process over form, growth over formal execution. Nationale offers this series as a way of making avenues to sustain artists at all stages of their career. 

Debuting with barry johnson, his It’s Me series delivers an inward reflection into his studied technique. All of the new works are true documentations from the studio of the artist in various styles sitting amongst his own work. These images are, quite literally, his most personal yet. They recall the multitudes of past artistic selves that shaped him, positioned in tandem with the most recent iteration. In both materiality and symbolism, johnson here has shifted the subject inward. The geometric angles of the background meld effortlessly with the more fluid shapes in the foreground, all rich in soft-hued pinks, blues, purples and yellows. In some of the paintings, johnson depicts himself engaging direct eye-contact with the viewer as if inviting visitors to cross the threshold of the frame for a closer look. Illustrated around the figures are drawing tables with the artist’s supplies, books, plants, and snippets of past works, including some presented at Nationale last summer. In fact, we could interpret this new collection as “collages'' of time, history, and individual growth. Presenting It’s Me in this manner affords gallery-goers a unique glimpse into an innermost studio setting. It feels a rarity to be so forthcoming, to bare the layered complexity behind each piece. Without revealing everything, this suite of works is a testament to johnson’s honest intentionality as his practice continues to evolve. 

barry johnson (b. Topeka, KS / lives in Federal Way, WA) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores race, community, and culture. He has received multiple grants and awards, including the Edwin T. Pratt Award, smART Ventures award, and the 2018 GAP Award. He was a finalist for the Conductive Garboil Grant, the Neddy Award, and most recently the Seattle Art Museum’s Betty Bowen Award. His work has been shown and collected around the nation. johnson has also created multiple permanent public art works regionally, including an immersive mural for Facebook’s Bellevue Office during his Open Arts Residency there and a large-scale permanent fabrication and sculpture for the Midtown development in Seattle, WA.

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