LISA JOHNSON, AOCAD       Painter/ Artist/ Teacher Home | Contact | Biography
Biography Lisa Johnson is a Canadian painter living just north of Toronto, Canada. Johnson has been painting professionally since graduating with honours from the Ontario College of Art and Design, where she also won the prestigious Mrs. W.O. Forsythe Award for 4th year women painters.  Lisa Johnson's work has been quietly gathering a following among collectors in the U.S.A., Europe and Canada. "She is a modern romantic poised halfway between the world of purely painterly dreams and visions of grand mysterious Canadian places." --Robert Kameczura, Chicago Big Shoulder's Magazine This summer her work was seen in a show curated by Thom Sokoloski at Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts, "Darkness at the Edge", a must-see show according to NOW magazine. Her paintings are in this spring's "NU WORK" magazine as well as the summer issue of Arabella Magazine. After several years of teaching art in a cyberARTS program at Lakeshore Collegiate, Lisa travelled to Berlin to experience the contemporary art scene and came back to an inspiring workshop with abstract expressionist, Harold Klunder. She is now happy to be back to full time painting and is developing a new body of work to be exhibited in the coming year. During her years at OCAD, she was particularly influenced by studies with Tom Dean and Richard Robertson. An inspirational line can also be drawn from Joyce Wieland, for whom she worked in the 80's, while Joyce was preparing for her AGO retrospective.	Johnson has always been fascinated by the techniques of the old and new masters, whose work she studied first-hand while living in Europe, particularly Carravagio, Rubens, and Rembrandt as well as Cezanne, Morandi and Picasso. Her work shows an affinity with abstract expressionists like de Kooning and Auerbach, yet draws on a 17th century aesthetic to create dramatic and layered abstractions imbued with a vibrant sense of depth and form. Johnson is able to create theatrical worlds-- passionate dramas that speak with spirit and musicality, both physically tough yet lyrical and poetic.   "I find inspiration from music and dance as well as from the history of art-making. I look for rhythm and movement in forms, whether found in a still life, landscape or figure. My paintings express an emotional and sensual response to form, space and light. Colour emphasizes points of sensitivity and energy. The end result makes reference to a representational starting point, but at the same time draws the viewer to look beyond the optical. My current explorations bring landscape, figure and architecture together, with resulting tensions between abstraction and representation."

 

Lisa Johnson, AOCAD CV EDUCATION 1996 Ontario College of Art & Design, A.O.C.A.D. with Honours Fine Arts, Drawing & Painting 1982 York University - B.A. Political Theory & Humanities 1977 Interlochen Arts Academy (Mich., U.S.A.) Visual Arts and Dance York University, Bachelor of Ed. Fine Arts 2005 AWARDS 1996 Mrs. W.O. Forsythe Award for 4th Year Women Painters Ontario College of Art Publications:  NuWork Mazine, Spring 2013 Arabella Magazine, Summer 2013 Canadian House & Home, Toronto Toronto Star 2004 Toronto Life 2003   ----- Exhibition History: Darkness at the Edge Curated show by Thom Sokoloski Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts Toronto, 2013 TDSB Show Propeller Centre, Toronto 2013 Mazinaw Sketches Collin Edwards Memorial Art Gallery Bon Echo, 2012 New Featured Artists, Quinn’s Fine Art; Tweed, 2012 Nuit Blanche “Intersections” Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts; Toronto, 2011 Landscape Group Show, Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts, 2010 Salon Show, Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts, 2010 Nuit Blanche -- painting live on stage -- Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts, 2010 "Lisa Johnson - Fault Lines" (solo) Propeller, 2009 Lisa Johnson, new work (solo) Canvas & Strings Salon; Toronto, 2009 Spirit of the Hills, Showcase Gallery; Cobourg, 2009 "Lisa Johnson - Formations" (solo) Propellor Centre for the Visual Arts Toronto, ON 2008 "Washi Summit" (group) Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts 2008 "Lisa Johnson - Fractures" (solo) Propellor Centre for the Visual Arts 2007 "Salon" (group) Propellor Centre for the Visual Arts Toronto, ON 2007 "Elegy" (2 person) Catch-23 Gallery Guelph, Ontario 2006 "Working the Land" (2 person) OCAD Gallery 2004 "Lay of the Land" Gallery 1313 5 person show 2004 "Lisa Johnson - Paintings" Avalon Restaurant, 270 Adelaide St. W., Toronto 1996-2006 "Landscapes" Greystones Gallery Mazinaw Lake, Cloyne 3 person show 2003 Bon Echo Art Exhibition Mazinaw Lake, Cloyne Juried Show 2003 "Spirit of Temagami" OCAD Gallery - Group Show Dundas St. W., Toronto Summer 2002 "Lisa Johnson- Paintings" Steam Whistle Roundhouse solo show 2001 "Summer Dreams" Art Exchange Gallery London, Ontario 2001 Bon Echo Art Exhibition Mazinaw Lake, Ontario 2001 "Lisa Johnson, Nasco Pelev and Andrew Peycha" Ashton/Evicta Gallery 2000 Collaborations - A Chamber Arts Experience Painted live on stage during chamber music performance 1999 - DuMaurier Theatre, Toronto Mazinaw: "Landscapes & Interiors" - Solo Show Kathleen Gormley McKay Art Centre, Unionville 1999 Vaughan Arts Festival, Group Exhibition 1999 - Vaughan City Playhouse, Thornhill West Edge Artist Collective Benefit for Batten Disease 1999 - Group Show -Toronto York Region Annual Juried Exhibition Frederick Horsman Varley Art Gallery of Markham; Unionville 1998 "Cello Suites" - solo show James Allen Fine Art, Queen St. E., Toronto 1998 Summer "7 Painters" - Group Show James Allen Fine Art, Toronto 1997 "re/membering"Group show 1996 - Ontario College of Art 95, 96 Open House Ontario College of Art OCA Women's Collective Group show 1995 - Arts in Action Gallery, Toronto "Paintings from Italy" Solo show 1995 - Upper Canada Brewing Co. Gallery, Toronto -----------------   Teaching Life: LTO Artist Educator, TDSB Lakeshore Collegiate, CyberARTS programme: Art teacher, grades 9 - 12 2011-2013 Newtonbrook SS 2009-10 Art & Drama Downsview SS Visual Art 2005-2008