Published in the Weekly Volcano, March 15, 2018
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| “untitled (Blue)” by Michael Johnson, courtesy University of Puget Sound |
A line is
defined as the path of a moving point. If the point is three dimensional and a
foot or two in size in every direction, and if it doubles back on itself and
crosses its own path like an Escher drawing or like a meandering line drawn
without lifting the pen from the paper —and if it does all that while remaining
a single cohesive form, what you have is a sculpture by Michael Johnson.
Michael Johnson: Sculpture in the front room and Rewriting Tradition: Modern Chinese
Landscape and Calligraphy in the
back room are the two shows now occupying Kittredge Gallery at University
of Puget Sound. The obvious first-glance observation might be that no two shows
could contrast so thoroughly. But after studying both shows, an interesting thought struck me, and it is this: if
you isolate a letter or a word from the Chinese calligraphy and enlarge it into
a large, three-dimensional form, the result would be the same thing as the
meandering line mentioned above, a Michael Johnson sculpture.
Johnson’s
sculptures are large and bold in the tradition of such artists as David Smith
and Noguchi. They are painted in flat colors and are made from plywood sheets
that are pieced together in such a way that most of them appear solid, with no
joints, the only exception being one called “Confluence,” which is unpainted,
and all the glued-together joints stand out like a sore thumb. I would love to
ask the artist what his intention was with this one. Was it left this way as an
example of his method? He does teach sculpture at UPS, after all. So maybe he
included it as a lesson and will sand and paint it later.
One of the
most intriguing is “untitled (blue),” which looks like a giant tuning fork. It
rests at an angle on the curved fan-shaped part and looks as if it would teeter
non-stop if touched. (I was so tempted to give it a little shove.)
The sides
double back upon themselves like pathways in an architectural maze. This is the
one that made me think of Escher drawings.
It is
fascinating to walk around Johnson’s sculptures to see how they look from
different angles —surprises from every point of view.
There are
five sculptures in the show, which is the perfect amount given the size of the
works and the gallery.
The other
show features a variety of landscape paintings and calligraphy by modern
Chinese artists. Local art lovers who are familiar with Japanese Sumi art, will
recognize the style. These Chinese drawings and paintings are similar to the
Sumi we’re used to, but there are subtle differences. Overall, the paintings
have a softer look, and even though they are modern works —many from the 1950s
to 1990s, but one from 1899, they look old.
Among my
favorite pieces are “Picture of Blue Mountain” by Zhuo Hejun and a group of
landscape paintings on rocks by Cynthia Wu. The blue of the mountain is subtle
and seems to soak into the paper, and the composition enhances the height of
the tall scroll, giving the viewer the feeling of looking up at a formidable
mountain.
Michael Johnson sculpture and modern Chinese
art, Monday-Friday
10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday noon to 5 p.m., through April 14, Kittredge
Gallery, 1500 N. Warner St., Tacoma, 253.879.3701
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