Matthew Johnson | FireWorks Gallery

Artist Tabs

Selected works

FW15536 One View (Two Aspects) diptych	FW17387 Tropos IV (cloud)	FW17390 Tropos III
FW18981 Intricacies II	FW18982 Intricacies III	FW18983 Intricacies IV
FW18984 Hybrid I	FW18985 Hybrid II	FW18998 Inflection VII
FW18999 Inflection VI	FW19000 Inflection VIII	FW19372 Candela edition of 3
FW19374 Effusio Stratum edition of 3	FW20667 Sun horizon	FW20669 After dawn marine

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Bio & CV

Born: 1963 London UK

Matthew’s artistic apprenticeship has been an eclectic if not a modernist one. A Melbourne-based painter, Matthew’s diverse travel and cultural experiences are distilled through the archetypal filter of oil and pigment. The underlying compositional structures of his paintings are repetitive – grids, geometric patterns, stripes or sequential arrangements drawn from nature. Matthew has has completed numerous residencies throughout Europe and Australia. As well as having his work held in numerous private and corporate collections nationally and internationally, Matthew is continually developing site specific architectural installations throughout Australia.

Story/Statement

Abstract artist Matthew Johnson is best known for his oil paintings of delicately blended circles, like pixels of a magnified picture blurred into patterns, some with solid circle works and digital prints.

WEATHER PATTERNS I (2015) & II (2017)
Whenever I go back home, we always go fishing at Double St My work emulates an abstract environment based upon variables in nature and the manmade. For the exhibitions Weather Patterns I and II, I have imbued different observations; one is based on a singular view with shifting change, and the other on the filtration of light in a singular viewpoint - an environment affected by the abiotic. A static viewpoint, of a solid form or element, is constantly veiled and affected by both visible and indivisible forces. There is no one single state of condition. Weather remains the kinetic makeup of atmosphere.

Courtesy of the Artist 2015

RESONANCE MAY-JUNE 2010
Johnson’s artistic apprenticeship has been an eclectic if not a modernist one. Diverse travel and cultural experiences are distilled through that archetypal filter of oil and pigment. The underlying compositional structures of his paintings are repetitive—grids, geometric patterns, or sequential arrangements drawn from nature. Dominating the surface, Johnson relies on intense colour-forming atmospheric particles, mostly spheres—the substance of memory and illumination. Ultimately, Johnson presents painting as an illusory field for the viewer to penetrate.

MATTHEW JOHNSON

Born: 1963 London UK

EDUCATION

1984 Graduated National Art School East Sydney Higher Art Certificate

EXHIBITIONS—SOLO

2020    Sanctum, Olsen Annexe, Sydney, NSW
2019 Nirdakiy (Middle Creek) FireWorks Gallery Brisbane
2018    Effusio, Olsen gallery, Sydney, NSW
2017    Illume, NKN Gallery, VIC
2016   Matthew Johnson Candescere OLSEN IRWIN Sydney
2015   Imago Mundi, Italy
2014   Melbourne Art Fair, Hill Smith Gallery
2014   Intermission, Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane
2014   Asia Contemporary Art Show, Conrad, Hong Kong
2014   Matthew Johnson Selected Works OLSEN IRWIN Sydney
2014   INTERMISSION FireWorks Gallery Brisbane
2014   Asia Contemporary Art Show Conrad Hong Kong
2013   Collective Identity [les], Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, NSW
2013   A Private View, Glen Eira Gallery, Caulfield
2012   Heat, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
2011   Summer Solstice II, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
2011   Blue August, FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane
2011   Eclectica Exhibition Series (I and III), FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane
2010   Miscellanea, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
2009    The Shilo Project Ian Potter Museum, touring Regional Gallery of Victoria and New South Wales
2009    Sculpture + Works on Paper, FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane
2008 From the air FireWorks Gallery Brisbane
2008 Blue: a group show FireWorks Gallery Brisbane
2007 George Petelin Gallery Gold Coast
2007 Greenhill Galleries Perth
2007 Christine Abrahams Gallery Melbourne
2006 Two Fields FireWorks Gallery Brisbane
2006 Tim Olsen Gallery Sydney
2005 Christine Abrahams Gallery Melbourne
2005 Greenhill Galleries Perth
2005 Tim Olsen Gallery Sydney
2004 Lines III FireWorks Gallery Brisbane
2004 Tim Olsen Gallery Sydney
2004 Greenhill Galleries Perth
2003 Christine Abrahams Gallery Melbourne
2003 Tim Olsen Gallery Sydney
2002 Unforseen FireWorks Gallery Brisbane
2002 Greenhill Galleries Perth
2002 Ben Grady Gallery ACT Canberra
2001 Tim Olsen Art Dealers Sydney
2001 Christine Abrahams Gallery Melbourne
2000 Tim Olsen Art Dealers Sydney
1999 Christine Abrahams Gallery Melbourne
1999 Olsen Carr Art Dealers Sydney
1998 Moments in Civilisation The Vault Contemporary Art Space
1998 Bundaberg Arts Centre Queensland
1998 Mappings James Allen Gallery Toronto Canada
1996 Christine Abrahams Gallery Melbourne
1996 Of One Of Many Olsen Carr Art Dealers Sydney
1995 Christine Abrahams Gallery Melbourne
1994 Room Exhibition Imperial Hotel New Delhi
1994 Room 32 Regents Court Hotel Sydney
1993 Studio Exhibition Sydney
1992 Christine Abrahams Gallery Melbourne
1991 Studio Exhibition Sydney
1990 Studio Exhibition Sydney
1989 Studio Exhibition Sydney
1989 Christine Abrahams Gallery Melbourne

EXHIBITIONS—GROUP

2024 Strange new ways FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane

2024 Yellow Meadow FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane

2020 Twelve Ways FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane

2020 Twelve Artists FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane

2020 Still in the Desert FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2019 Matches 6: Three clusters FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2016 Matthew Johnson Candescere OLSEN IRWIN Sydney

2015 Weather Patterns FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2014 Matthew Johnson Selected Works OLSEN IRWIN Sydney

2014 INTERMISSION FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2014 Asia Contemporary Art Show Conrad Hong Kong

2011 Blue August FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2011 Eclectica Exhibition Series (I and III) FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2009 Matthew Johnson New Paintings Tim Olsen Gallery Sydney

2009 The Shilo Project Ian Potter Museum touring Regional Gallery of Victoria and New South Wales

2009 Sculpture + Works on Paper FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2008 2 x 2 Tim Olsen Gallery Annex Sydney

2008 Block Projects Melbourne

2008 Contemporaneous Australian Contemporary Painting 1 Wangaratta Victoria

2007 Points of Departure Tobey Fine Arts New York

2007 Views on Abstraction Hill Smith Gallery South Australia

2007 Tactile Imagination Design Research Processes Ivan Dougherty Gallery Sydney

2007 Utopian Visions & The slump of Paradise Block Projects Melbourne

2006 Matthew Johnson Recent Works Tim Olsen Gallery Sydney

2006 10 Chancery Lane Gallery Hong Kong

2006 Dick Bett Gallery Hobart

2005 10 Chancery Lane Gallery Hong Kong

2005 Stanley Art Prize Stanley Tasmania

2004 Melbourne Art Fair Royal Exhibition Buildings Carlton Melbourne

2004 Lines III FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2003 ART PARIS Carrousel de Louvre Paris

2003 Fresh Paint Greenhill Galleries Perth

2003 Cube + Nodrum + Abrahams Cube Gallery Adelaide

2003 Depth of Field Shepparton Art Gallery VIC & MUMA Melbourne

2002 Good Vibrations Heide Museum of Art Heidelberg

2002 Exposition collective Conseil General de Loire Atlantique Nantes France

2002 Towards Colour McClelland Gallery Langwarrin VIC

2002 Tim Olsen Gallery Sydney

2002 Greenhill Galleries Perth

2002 Lines II FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2001 ART PARIS Carrousel de Louvre Paris

2001 Australie Visages d’un continent Galerie Visage de l’Art Marly-le-Roi

2001 Voyages dens la matiere Atelier Claude Cerf Paris

2001 Love Colour Studio 91B Adelaide

2001 Whitish Christmas Ben Grady Gallery ACT

2001-3 Hermanns Art Award national travelling exhibition

2001 Abstraction: Spirit Light Pure Form Tim Olsen Gallery Sydney

2000 Accents Australiens Espace Adamski Designs Paris

2000 Melbourne Artfair 2000 Royal Exhibition Building Carlton

2000 The Exquisite Corpse Bendigo Regional Gallery

1999 Grands et Jeunes d’Aujourd’hui Espace Eiffel Branly Paris

1999 on any given day Bundaberg Arts Centre Queensland

1999 Exposition Australie Bastille Paris France

1998 Propositions Australiennes Gallerie Luc Queyrel Paris

1998 Le Temps du Reve Bioliotheque municipale Le Perreux-sur-Marne

1997 Espace Beziers Beziers France

1997 Salon Natasha Hanoi Vietnam

1997 Devoured by Paint Olsen Carr Art Dealers Sydney

1996 Abstraction Now Geelong Regional Gallery Victoria

1996 Flagging the Republic Sherman Galleries Sydney

1996 Aer Phoste Dublin Ireland

1995 Icon of our Times Salon Natasha Hanoi Vietnam

1995 3x3 Touring Residencies/Sites Sydney Christchurch Auckland Berlin Canberra & Beijing

1995 Works on Paper - A Selection Christine Abrahams Gallery Melbourne

1995 Moet And Chandon Touring Exhibition State Galleries of Australia

1995 Hidden Treasures SH Ervin Gallery Sydney

1994 Bet Your Life II Annandale Galleries Sydney

1994 House Canberra curated and co-ordinated by the artist

1994 Re-placing Australian Painting Rosinis & Test Tube Gallery Auckland NZ

1993 Moet And Chandon Touring Exhibition State Galleries of Australia

1993 Contemporary Australian Painting Works From The Allen Allen & Hemsley Collection Westpac Gallery Victorian Arts Centre

1993 Australian Perspecta 93 Art Gallery of New South Wales

1992 Future City - Art & Architecture Bond Store Sydney

1992 Alphabet/Haemorrhage Performances from the Black Box - assistant to Mike Parr Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney

1991 Over East Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery The University of Western Australia

1991 Microcosm Garry Anderson Gallery Sydney

1989 Fresh Art S H Ervin Gallery Sydney

1989 William Dobell Foundation Art Prize Ray Hughes Gallery Sydney

1989 Fishers Ghost Art Prize Campbelltown City Art Gallery

1988 Seven New Artists Christine Abrahams Gallery Melbourne

1988 Ariennale EMR Gallery Sydney

1988 Australian Contemporary Art Fair 1 (ACAF) Melbourne

1988 Faber Castell Drawing Prize Rex Irwin Gallery Sydney

1987 Mori Gallery Sydney

1985 New South Wales Travelling Art Scholarship Exhibition

1985 Faber Castell Prize For Drawing Rex Irwin Gallery Sydney

COMMISSIONS

2011 South Morang Station artwork Project in association with Cox Architects department of Transport Victoria

2010 Coolaroo Station Public Artwork in association with the Department of Transport VIC Alessio Fini and Berlin Design and students of Coolaroo South Primary School

2010 CBD Metro Tender Stage artistic consultation in association with Merren Morrison and Grimshaw Architects

2009-2010 Garland Row Sydney Screen Design for Alex Popov Architects and PJ Developments

2009-2010 CBD Metro Project in association with New South Wales Government Phillip Cox Architects Alessio Fini Phi Design Sydney and Hassle Group

2006-08 TAC Building Geelong in association with McGauran Gianni Soon Architects Melbourne

2005 Glenroy Learning Centre in association with McGauran Gianni Soon Architects Melbourne

2005 Hue in association with Clement Jackson Burrows & SC Land Developments Melbourne

2004-05 Moment Multiplex Architects Wood Marsh Consultants Turpin Crawford Studio Sydney

2004 Emanation Still Life Book Cover design for "The Cooks Companion" Stephanie Alexander in association with Penguin Group

2002 Sunfield Stage I Stage II Stage III Australian Wheat Board Melbourne

2002-3 Yellow House Screens in association with The Yellow House & Philip Bartlett Projects Sydney

2001 Seasons 4 Panels Chadstone Shopping Centre Melbourne

1997-8 Babylonian Frieze MG Garage in association with PJ Developments and Alex Tzannes Architects Sydney

AWARDS RESIDENCIES & GRANTS

2009 Victoria Commercial Architecture award in association with MGS Architects ML Design Geelong

2008 Australia Council Barcelona Residency Spain

2002 Cite des Artes International Artist Residency Paris

2001 Artist in Residence Bundanon New South Wales

2000 Arts Victoria Travel Research Grant Gabo Island Victoria

1999-00 Parks Victoria Artist in Residence Program Pettys Orchard Templestowe Victoria

1998-99 Artist in Residence Bundaberg Arts Centre Queensland

1995 Travel Research Grant Australia Council (VACB)

1993 Fisher's Ghost Art Prize Campbelltown City Gallery New South Wales

1988 Faber Castell Prize for Drawing

PUBLICATIONS

Andrew Frost SMH review solo exhibition Tim Olsen Gallery August 3 2012

Ingrid Perez Matthew Johnson’s Circles of Light Australian Art Collector Issue 34 Oct – Dec 2005

Ashley Crawford Matthew Johnson: Peregrination The Age Review Saturday Oct 16 2005

Martin Shub Art Right Now Exhibition News wwwGallerydiscoverymediacomau

Annabel Dean Swatch this Space SMH July 21 2005

Peter King Catalogue Essay Greenhill Galleries 2005

Betsy Brennan Vogue Living Apartments 2004

Ashley Crawford Catalogue Essay Christine Abrahams Gallery 2003

Karen Hall Catalogue Essay Depth of Field Shepparton Regional Art Gallery 2003

Geraldine O’Brien News and Features (Yellow House Project) Sydney Morning Herald 22 March 2003

Karen Hall Catalogue Essay Tim Olsen Gallery 2003

Robert Nelson Photography and Painting in Cahoots The Age Jan 25 2003

Sandra McLean Take Your Sunnies Article The Courier Mail Mon 28 October 2002

Zara Stanhope Catalogue Essay Good Vibrations Heide Museum of Art 2002

Harry Kampianne A lA Decouverte del’Art Australien Arts Actual 2000

John Peter Brakewood Review Art Actual 1998

Neville Western Review West Australian June 2002

Michael Eather Lines II Catalogue essay 2002

Carol Marando Amateurs Dominate Drawing Prize Review Faber Castell Prize Eastern Herald 1/9/88

Elwyn Lynn Review of Faber Castell Prize Weekend Australian 3/9/88

Ronald Millar Review of solo exhibition at Christine Abrahams Gallery Melbourne Herald 5/7/89

Australian Elle Young at Art May 1990

Sandra Murray Over East Catalogue Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery Perth 1991

Betsy Brennan Vogue Living April 1992

Judy Annear Moet & Chandon Touring Catalogue 1993Felicity Fenner Looking for Life Support Sydney Morning Herald July 1994

Felicity Fenner Review of Moet & Chandon Sydney Morning Herald Sept 1993

Davina Jackson Future City Art & Architecture Exhibition Catalogue 1992

Bruce James Review of Australian Perspecta The Australian 9 Oct 1993

John Kavanagh Youthful Vigour in Perspecta Business Review Weekly 22/10/93

Natalie King Australian Perspecta '93 Exhibition Catalogue AGNSW

Victoria Lynn Australian Perspecta 93 Exhibition Catalogue AGNSW

Ewen McDonald Contemporary Aust’n Painting: Works from Allen Allen & Hemsley Collection 1993

Paul McGillick An Elegant Perspecta Australian Financial Review 22 Oct 1993

John Neylon The Discreet Charm of the Moet Award Art & Australia Vol1 No31 Spring 1993

Nicholas Baume Room 32 Art & Text 1995

Rita Carlos Replacing Australian Painting Planet Magazine Jan95

Elwyn Lynn Review of Moet & Chandon Prize The Australian 24/2/95

John McDonald Review of Moet & Chandon Prize SMH 15 Feb 1995

Paul McGillick Review of Moet & Chandon Prize Financial Review 26 Feb 1995

Harford Sonia Matthew Johnson The Age 25 April 1995

John McDonald Review of One of Many SMH May 1996

Bernard McAll Catalogue essay for Christine Abrahams Gallery 1995

Sabastian Smee Review of exhibition at Olsen Carr SMH 1999

Simeon Kronenberg Catalogue essay Christine Abrahams Gallery March 2001

Andrew Frost Review of exhibition at Christine Abrahams Gallery Australian Art Collector March 2001

Terry Ingram Christies Contemporary Auction Financial Review May 5 2001

COLLECTIONS

QUT Art Museum

AIS Insurance Collection

Allen Allen & Hemsley Sydney

Artbank Sydney

Australian Wheat Board Melbourne

BHP Collection Melbourne

Bundaberg Arts Centre Queensland

Campbelltown City Art Gallery NSW

Deloitte Ross Tohmatsu

Gandel Group Chadstone Melbourne

Faber Castell Collection Sydney

Freehill Hollingdale & Page Melbourne

Monash University Museum of Art

Corporate collections throughout Australia and private collections in Australia

Cologne Munich New York Madrid Seoul and Vancouver Canada

Holmes à Court Collection Perth

Hyatt Hotel Perth

Heide Museum of Art Melbourne

Macquarie Bank Macquarie Bank

Mallesons Stephen Jacques Melbourne

Moorilla Museum & Art Gallery Tasmania

News Corporation

RACV

State Bank Victoria

Victor and Loti Smorgon Collection Melbourne

Visy Industrial Packaging Melbourne

La Trobe University Museum of Art

Essay

Matthew Johnson

Site Unseen Part I: selected mixed media works 1993 - 2012

30 April 2024 to 8 June 2024

There is a circular evolution with these selected works in this exhibition. Site Unseen is something that we use as a colloquial term, but as a term of investigation it reverts back to the idea of searching for civilization and cultural information, like archaeology, digging it out of your own soul to expose what it actually is there. This is Part 1. Part 2 will be at a later date when we will then talk to the architectural works (integrated art) that I have created as well. Some of the works in this particular show allude to that idea of surface or form or may look like a ceramic or may infer a different type of relationship to how we see art.

This exhibition presents a cross section of works from 1993 to 2012. The mixed media artwork Frieze (1996) is made of pigment, oil, masking tape, spray paint and wax on Perspex. It's almost like the paint has been entombed inside the CD boxes. What's interesting about this work, and some of the other works in the exhibition, is that it's talking to the idea of entombment of paint and the psychological anthropology of culture and civilization, and how we look at it. Hence the title, Frieze - it talks to the relationship between how art isn't just a separate entity but is connected to architecture and all other mediums; it's all part of an understanding of life and culture. I have installed the painting in exactly the same way I would have 30 years ago, which is fixed to the wall with bluetak. The picture is painted in reverse; what you can see in the foreground is what I can't see when I'm painting it. I'm painting it from behind. It is a blind leap of faith with both its intent and its finalisation. The use of a grid (and breaking the work into the grid) is almost like a form of mapping, a technique that's visible in some of the other works in this exhibition, especially the works on paper. These works take the idea of the grid, breaking it down and transforming it back into nature with a sense of optical play.

Two other CD works, Ad Memoriam (1996) and Paddy Field (1996) also show a lot of experimentation. I'm looking at scratching the surface, a pentimento of effects, and seeing what sticks to the internal side of the CD boxes. I'm painting the background, so it becomes a translucent composite.

Fourth is a sculptural work which was made around the same time and originally shown at the Bundaberg Art Centre in the 90s. Moments in civilizations (1998) references the idea of invisible cities (a book by Italo Calvino). The idea of structure, art and architecture being part in one of the same. The work also alludes to the cultural entity of spatiality, which can exist in the white cube.

The next period in the show moves towards more constellation organic paintings, as with the Aureola series (1999). These paintings are moving away from the grid and looking more like a kinetic celestial night sky or series of lights (like the Min Min lights). There is a highly pigmented surface (using the pigments I've also used in Frieze) painted directly onto the canvas.

The two paintings next to these, France September (1997) and France October (1997) move away again from grids and move into forms of light. I was quite interested in how different the light was living in France at the time so I experimented with sombre atmospheric paintings.

The Cadence works from 2010 are bright stripes on canvas which also allude back to the early CD works, at the same time playing with striation in form and letting it infuse creating a visual humm.

The artist, Brisbane, 2024

Past exhibitions

SOLO

Site Unseen Part I 2024

Weather Patterns III 2024

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