DAVID EDWARD JOHNSON ART

VANITY FAIR UK • HOLIDAY 2020

Look for my piece Timbre 900 in Vanity Fair UK’s holiday issue. I’m thrilled to appear in a magazine with such a rich tradition as a tastemaker and honored to appear alongside the other very talented artists in the featurette.

SINGLES

These are the individual paintings that come straight from my id, not a part of a larger series. These are a ton of fun and keep the creative spake burning bright. For a sense of my general musical mindset for these, listen up to Quincy Jones and crew on Manteca.

He Dances, Draped And New

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
20″ x 24″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

London After Midnight

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
30″ x 30″

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Milenberg Joys

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
30″ x 30″

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Just Stay With Me

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
18″ x 24″

SOLD

Andromeda, The Chained Maiden

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
30″ x 30″

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Jimmy’s Lament

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
18″ x 24″

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The Past Is Not Dead

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
30″ x 30″

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Puttin’ On The Ritz

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
18″ x 24″

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Lay Me Back Like An Empty Dress

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
16″ x 20″

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SERIES: LUST FOR LIFE

I’m attempting to express the energy of creation itself with these canvases. In an era of pandemic and crisis, the urge to creativity is a sustaining force, bringing color and life where there is none. Bold, striking shapes knife through color fields, expressing that bright impetus with a strong sense of verve, movement, and tension. Check out my musical mindset for these paintings… Turn up the amazing tension and release of Talk Talk’s inimitable “Desire.”

Lust for Life 337

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
30″ x 30″

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Lust for Life 837

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
30″ x 30″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Lust for Life 492

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
30″ x 30″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Lust for Life 394

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
30″ x 30″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Lust for Life 530

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
30″ x 30″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

SERIES: RE-ENTRY

For this series, I was all about exuberant play. Working with some of the visual themes explored in the Timbre series, I sought to embody an even greater sense of freedom and action here. That playful energy comes through in these shimmering, expressive canvases. For a listen to my musical mindset for these paintings, turn up the Rival Consoles remix of the Neil Cowley Trio doing, “Weightless.”

Re-Entry 732

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
18″ x 24″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Re-Entry 162

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
18″ x 24″

SOLD

Re-Entry 886

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
18″ x 24″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Re-Entry 949

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
18″ x 24″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Re-Entry 796

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
18″ x 24″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Re-Entry 538

Acrylic, Graphite, Spray Paint, Crayon, and Household on Canvas
18″ x 24″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

SERIES: BONDS

For this ongoing series, I am exploring human connection through figure / ground relationships. A swirling, varied background field of color is punctuated by raw graphite lines. Atop those elements, shapes dance in an interplay of color and position. The positive / negative relationships between those shapes and their interaction with the painting’s background are an exploration of the shifting, often impermanent nature of human bonds. For a listen to my musical mindset for this work, give a listen to Jambinai’s stunning composition, “Time of Extinction.”

Bonds 552

Acrylic, Graphite, and Household on Canvas
30″ x 30″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Bonds 861

Acrylic, Graphite, and Household on Canvas
30″ x 30″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Bonds 286

Acrylic, Graphite, and Household on Canvas
30″ x 30″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Bonds 658

Acrylic, Graphite, and Household on Canvas
30″ x 30″

SOLD

SERIES IN PROGRESS: TIMBRE

For this ongoing series, I am charting new territory. It explores identity through improvisation. It’s an attempt to express the ID, the primal creative sense, blending form, color, contrast and movement to reveal the intangible. For a listen to my musical mindset for this work, turn up Steven Wilson’s genius improv turn in “No Twilight Within the Courts of the Sun.”

Timbre 151

Acrylic, Graphite, Household, and Crayon on Canvas
30″ x 30″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Timbre 812

Acrylic, Graphite, Household, and Crayon on Canvas
30″ x 30″

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Timbre 331

Acrylic, Graphite, Household, and Crayon on Canvas
30″ x 30″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Timbre 548

Acrylic, Graphite, Household, and Crayon on Canvas
30″ x 30″

SOLD

Timbre 900

Acrylic, Graphite, Household, and Crayon on Canvas
30″ x 30″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Timbre 711

Acrylic, Graphite, Household, and Crayon on Canvas
30″ x 30″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Timbre 929

Acrylic, Graphite, Household, and Crayon on Canvas
30″ x 30″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Timbre 892

Acrylic, Graphite, Household, and Crayon on Canvas
30″ x 30″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

SERIES: ALPHANUMERIC: SEMIOSIS

For this series, I further explored the themes touched upon in the “Alphanumeric” canvases. Themes of bringing together the designer and the artist in me… The dichotomy of my two creative sides, in unity and the third layer of meaning and energy that unity brings. It’s an embodiment of the idea of “SEMIOSIS,” the process of imbuing language with meaning. The interplay of the letterforms with the deep space of color, movement and shape drives this concept home. For a listen to my musical mindset for this work, turn up the sounds of the great Thomas Fonnesbaek and Justin Kauflin colab on the very apropos “Semiosis.”

Alphanumeric: Semiosis 58Y

Acrylic, Graphite, Household, and Crayon on Canvas
30″ x 30″

SOLD

Alphanumeric: Semiosis 75R

Acrylic, Graphite, Household, and Crayon on Canvas
30″ x 30″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

Alphanumeric: Semiosis 73S4

Acrylic, Graphite, Household, and Crayon on Canvas
30″ x 30″

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Alphanumeric: Semiosis QG

Acrylic, Graphite, Household, and Crayon on Canvas
30″ x 30″

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Alphanumeric: Semiosis C29

Acrylic, Graphite, Household, and Crayon on Canvas
30″ x 30″

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Alphanumeric: Semiosis 4HE

Acrylic, Graphite, Household, and Crayon on Canvas
30″ x 30″

Available • Contact The Artist for Pricing and Information

SERIES: ALPHANUMERIC

This series unites the two sides of my artistic heart — the fine artist and the designer. A grid of color and line define the compositions, suggesting landscapes or architectural shapes. That grid is both broken and underscored by gestural flourish, building texture and emotion. Hand-painted characters suggest additional meaning. For a peek at my musical mindset for this work, turn up the legendary Redman, Mehldau, McBride and Blade colab on “Right Back Round Again.”