Paul Johnson

British artist Paul Johnson's practice is based in process and world-building. For his 2017 show at the Camden Arts Center, British artist Paul Johnson dismantled his entire studio and presented the reconstructed fragments in the gallery. For his 2015 show at Focal Point, Johnson, inspired by south Essex’s history of attracting utopian thinkers, imagined how people in the future might imagine our current era. Artworks stood precariously in an upright position, resembling ancient standing stones. A large decaying vehicle titled Dune Buggy, was accompanied by a number of other fragile sculptures, also constructed from pulped paper and pulped photocopies. Representations of genuine historic artefacts, including a paper copy of an ancient Sabaean sculpted face, were intertwined with the fictitious. 

Born in 1972, Paul Johnson and works in London. He has exhibited at Focal Point Gallery, Southend (2015), Usher Gallery, The Collection Museum, Lincoln (2013-2014), The Nunnery (2011-12), Saatchi Gallery, London (2010), CAPC, Bordeaux (2010), Frieze Art Fair, London (2011), Armory Art Fair, New York (2010), Ancient & Modern, London (2009) and Mizuma Gallery, Tokyo (2008).

Text courtesy of Focal Point.