Gaiacon
Johnson, Peter
1986
Artwork Information
-
Title:
Gaiacon
-
Artist:
Johnson, Peter
-
Artist Bio:
American, born 1940
-
Date:
1986
-
Medium:
Color woodcut and monotype
-
Dimensions:
10 1/4 x 17 1/8 inches
-
Credit Line:
Wichita Art Museum, Gift of the artist
-
Object Number:
1989.9
-
Display:
Not Currently on Display
About the Artwork
Peter Johnson is a master of all the classic techniques of print making and he prefers to execute each step of the labor process as well as the design process himself. In the making of the print Gaiacon, Johnson adopted the radical technique of reduction color relief block printing used by Picasso in the creation of his late-period linocuts. In this technique, the artist cuts away portions and/or reduces the sizes of the original block in each successive stage of the color printing.
Johnson’s subject matter covers a broad range of experience and sources—portraiture, folklore, art history, regional landscape, fantasy, and private symbolism. His style also incorporates qualities of naivetй and sophistication. In the portrait of Arthur he restricts his formal vocabulary to line, but makes that one element a carrier of such expressive emotive qualities as action, change and energy. The print Gaiacon juxtaposes the abstract surface patterns of line and silhouette with broad, painterly vistas and the illusion of depth.