“HI MY NAME IS RON MY INTERESTS ARE MAKING SURE I PERFORM TO MY HIGHEST ABILITY AT WORK SO I DONT GET LAYED OFF WHEN THE COMPANY DOWNSIZES”
Chris Johanson har aldrig været specielt interesseret i den kontemporære kunstscene. I stedet har han haft det bedst i San Franciscos skæve miljøer sammen med skatere, transvestitter, afvigere og andre “freaks som ham selv”.
Han startede med at lave plakater til sine venners punk koncerter i 1980erne, hvor han også begyndte at udtrykke sig med sine karakteristiske ordbobler på murene i det offentlige rum. Efterhånden begyndte han også at bruge efterladenskaberne og skraldet i byen til at lave sine billeder, der som regel udelukkende består af genbrugstræ og malingrester fundet på gaderne.
Byen, dens mennesker og mange udsagn fylder meget i hans univers af naivistiske figurer, pastelfarver og talebobler - et overdrevet univers, der både er morsomt og gravalvorligt. Det handler om det moderne menneskes rodløshed og alt det, vi gør for at fylde livet med mening og identitet, hvordan vi f.eks. shopper religioner, dyrker vores seksualitet eller sælger vores sjæl til arbejdet. I Chris Johansons billeder er den menneskelige tilstand tragikomisk og ofte uden så megen anden betydning end vores evindelige jagt på mening og lykke. Ruterne, vi vandrer hver dag, mantraerne vi fortæller os selv - alle de instinkter, der får os til at blive ved og ved, hver eneste dag.
“I LIKE IT HERE. YOU CAN SEE SO MUCH. BUT I GOT TO GO SO I CAN GO AND SEE OTHER THINGS IN SOME OF THE OTHER PLACES.”
*
“HI MY NAME IS RON MY INTERESTS ARE MAKING SURE I PERFORM TO MY HIGHEST ABILITY AT WORK SO I DONT GET LAYED OFF WHEN THE COMPANY DOWNSIZES”
Chris Johanson has never been particularly interested in the contemporary art scene. Instead, he has been more comfortable in San Francisco's quirky environments together with skaters, transvestites, deviants and other "freaks like himself".
He started doing posters for his friends' punk concerts in the 1980s, where he also began to express himself with his characteristic word bubbles on the walls in public spaces. Gradually he also began to use the litter and trash from the city to create paintings, which usually consist entirely of recycled wood and paint residues found on the streets.
The city, its people and many statements fill up his universe of naivistic characters, pastel and speech bubbles - an exaggerated universe that is both amusing and grave. It is about modern man's rootlessness and everything we do to fill life with meaning and identity, for example how we shop among religions, how we cultivate our sexuality or sell our soul to work. The human condition is tragicomical in Chris Johanson's paintings and often without much else meaning than our perpetual search for meaning and happiness. The routes we walk every day, the mantras we tell ourselves - all the instincts that make us go on and on, every single day.
“I LIKE IT HERE. YOU CAN SEE SO MUCH. BUT I GOT TO GO SO I CAN GO AND SEE OTHER THINGS IN SOME OF THE OTHER PLACES.”