About______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Gwynne Johnson was raised in Dublin, Ireland and currently lives and works in Chicago, IL. She received my MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and holds a BA in the History of Art from the University of Pennsylvania.
Ideas of personal displacement and emotional fragmentation are recurrent themes throughout her work. She embraces unresolved and un-resolvable tensions and through the photograph’s eternally frozen surface looks to prolong the ambiguity found in our lives not to stabilize nor control its discordance. Her practice is an act of discovery and a direct response to a society that seeks to neatly contain and catalog each and every experience; a system that favors hasty resolutions over real and extended uncertainties. Her photographs are not an antidote but a counter offer, a reminder that life is lived in the in-between.
News______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SECOND CITY PSYCHASTHENIA — GALLERY DISCUSSION
Tomorrow night, January 20 @ 6:00 pm
Here’s a press release from the Association of International Photography Art Dealers.
(gj 1.19.12)
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SECOND CITY PSYCHASTHENIA
Curated by Daniel Bauer
January 12, 2012 – February 18, 2012
Andrea Meislin Gallery is pleased to announce a new exhibition curated by Daniel Bauer. Including work by Steve Daly, Jose Ferreira, Gwynne Johnson, Susan Morelock, Kristin Nason, Anna Shteynshleyger, Rob Swainston and Learning Ross.
Opening Reception:
Thursday, January 12, 6 – 8 p.m.
Andrea Meislin Gallery
526 West 26th Street, Suite 214
New York, NY 10001
Gallery Hours are Tuesday – Saturday 10 am – 6 pm
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I am very excited to announce my participation in Second City Psychastenia, at Andrea Meislin Gallery, 526 W 26TH ST, NYC, January 12 – February 18, 2012.
Details to follow!
(gj 11.25.11)
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AFTERMATH
November 4 – December 2, 2011
Opening November 4th from 6-9pm
Chicago Artists’ Coalition (CAC), 217 North Carpenter Street
Aftermath refers to what is left behind after an event, especially a destructive event, or an extinction. The artists in this exhibition work with ideas of organic life, nature, place, the body, and ritual. Some of the work in this exhibition explores the relationship between people and nature, and between what it means to be human and what it means to be an animal. Others may relate to ritual and the body, to our physicality and our animal nature, suggesting that we are perhaps not so far removed from our animal origins as we often suppose, as attested to by recurrent myths of lycanthropy (werewolves), and true stories of feral children.
Participating artists include Melika Bass, Sarah Belknap + Joseph Belknap, Gwynne Johnson, Jenny Kendler, Homa Shoajaie and Amber Hawk Swanson.
To kick off this exhibitions, BOLT resident Amber Hawk-Swanson will present Online Comments (August 2007 – August 2011) a performance that responds to early press for her Amber Doll Project (2008) on November 1 from 6-8:30pm in the BOLT Project Space at CAC.
(gj 10.10.11)
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Press for PREVIEW
Time Out Chicago Critic’s Pick… http://timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/art-design/14882089/preview
Bad At Sports Top 3 Weekend Picks… http://badatsports.com/2011/top-3-weekend-picks-819-820/
(gj 8.18.11)
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PREVIEW – exhibition/opening
PREVIEW, BOLT Residency’s inaugural exhibition.
The opening reception will take place August 19 from 6-9pm at CAC’s new home located in the heart of the west loop at 217 North Carpenter Street. PREVIEW will run August 19 – September 16 and are free and open to the public.
(gj 8.2.11)
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BOLT RESIDENCY
I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be moving into a new studio for a year at the Bolt Residency!
See below
(gj 6.16.11)
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“CAC is thrilled to announce our 2011-2012 Bolt Resident Artists: Melika Bass, Joseph and Sarah Belknap, Marty Burns, Kathryn Trumbull Fimreite, Gwynne Johnson, Jenny Kendler, Homa Shojaie, Amber Hawk Swanson, Eric Wall, and Stacia Yeapanis . Beginning June 15, Bolt Resident’s will move into their new studios at 217 North Carpenter, downstairs from CAC’s exhibition space and offices. This dynamic group will have ongoing access to working studio space, one-on-one monthly studio visits and workshops from key cultural leaders in the arts, ongoing professional development and participation in CAC’s monthly exhibition programming, with its inaugural exhibition opening Friday, August 19th.
Bolt Residency is a highly competitive and juried artist program housed in the former FLATFILEgalleries, an 8,000 square foot space in the vibrant, art-centric West Loop neighborhood. Bolt Residency is a one-year artist residency program consisting of nine subsidized studios and professional exhibition space with daily, ongoing professional development programming and support from CAC staff.”
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SPRING GRADUATE EXHIBITIONSullivan Galleries & 22-28 S. Wabash Ave., April 30–May 20 The exhibition will also be open on Monday, May 2, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. |
“A must-see presentation of the next generation of artists and designers, this exhibition features work by more than 130 students—SAIC’s largest graduating class to date. New this year, guest curators Juan William Chávez, Jessica Cochran, Bryce Dwyer, and Gregory Harris transform the galleries into a series of shows-within-a-show. These thematic sections unfold throughout the space in a sequence of visual encounters and unconventional experiences.”
(gj 4.1.11)
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RETURNING THE GAZE
I am excited to announce that I have two photographs in an upcoming show curated by Lily Mayfield.
Returning the Gaze: Contemporary Portraits by Women Photographers
February 28th – April 1st
Northern Trust Bank
50 South LaSalle Street, 1st Floor Main Lobby
Chicago, IL 60603
(gj 2.21.11)
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CALL & RESPONSE – exhibition/opening
Opening reception: Feb. 1st, 4pm – 6pm
Gallery X, 280 S. Columbus Drive, Chicago
Feb. 1st – 17th
Call and Response is an ongoing, non-verbal collaboration between Gwynne Johnson and Kristin Nason. Referencing a musical call and response cycle this durational assemblage will expand over the course of the exhibition as the artists alternate daily in adding an object to the growing network of materials.
Exploring the potential of objects to act as mediators between individuals, this project addresses the dynamic nature of interpersonal relationships and efforts of communication.
(gj 1.30.11)