Barron Field

Johnson's work poses questions about the ways in which history is formed and the readability of contextually specific cultural signifiers today. The exhibition consisted of a series of large-scale paintings on unstretched canvas that suspended from the ceiling in the foyer of Kelvin Hall, variously framing and obscuring one another.

Johnson's paintings push into internal, visceral spaces and out to sweeping expanses. Scenes from classical mythology are taken, distorted and repurposed as a means to cast a critical eye upon contemporary social bonds and the legacies of colonialism.

Hung away from the walls, the backs of the paintings were also visible. They contained sketches and notes about their production as frontal image-spaces, becoming a metaphor for alternative accounts of history that persist as a foil to official versions.

Commissioned by Glasgow International in collaboration with Mary Mary. Supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.