{"id":113878,"date":"2025-08-27T14:02:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T14:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/113878\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T14:02:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T14:02:12","slug":"brett-allen-johnson-harnesses-the-glow-of-the-american-southwest-in-dreamy-oil-paintings-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/113878\/","title":{"rendered":"Brett Allen Johnson Harnesses the Glow of the American Southwest in Dreamy Oil Paintings \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"

As though seared into our collective consciousness, some images of the American Southwest seem to fully embody its inhospitable terrain, mercurial weather, and intense, challenging beauty. One of these would most certainly be Edward Curtis\u2019 dramatic 1904 photograph<\/a> of the sacred Canyon de Chelly (pronounced \u201cdeh-shay\u201d) in Arizona, featuring a string of Navajo riders on horseback, silhouetted against towering rock formations behind them.<\/p>\n

Both a record of the Indigenous inhabitants who called this land home for centuries, taken 40 years after the forced march known as the Long Walk<\/a>, the photo is also a testament to a quickly evolving nation. And the drama of the region\u2019s canyons, ridges, mountains, buttes, and mesas continue to enthrall us today. For Brett Allen Johnson<\/a>, these timeless, arid landscapes inspire glowing oil paintings that draw upon the legacies of Western painters like Maynard Dixon and Georgia O\u2019Keeffe.<\/p>\n

\"an\u201cTwo Worlds,\u201d oil, 50 x 100 inches<\/p>\n

A solo show of Johnson\u2019s paintings, Two Worlds, opens next month at Maxwell Alexander Gallery<\/a>. Most of the images shown here are included, like the mineralized, colorful outcrops of \u201cBanded Cliffs, Fruita,\u201d based on a historic location in Capitol Reef National Park. The exhibition also includes the show\u2019s titular painting, \u201cTwo Worlds,\u201d which shows an anonymous, completely uninhabited canyon rim from the opposite side.<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s forms are brushy and somewhat simplified, although not to the extent that they appear cartoonish. He smooths rocky ledges, gives clouds the weight of dense felt, and illuminates apertures in pueblos, mountains, and rainstorms. Through the interplay of light, shadow, and hue, he renders soaring buttes with fleshy folds and highlights unique patterns in nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnique, composition, color, and paint handling\u2014they all say something even if we don\u2019t intend them to,\u201d Johnson says. \u201cBut the more I can get to the heart of it, the more I can simplify a painting into just the parts I find indispensable\u2014the essence\u2014those fundamentals become just tools in service of a vision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two Worlds opens on September 6 in Pasadena. Explore more on Johnson\u2019s Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"an\u201cGlass Window,\u201d oil, 30 x 34 inches<\/p>\n

\"an\u201cBanded Cliffs, Fruita,\u201d oil, 20 x 20 inches<\/p>\n

\"an\u201cChocolate Ripple,\u201d oil, 16 x 40 inches<\/p>\n

\"an\u201cNot Some Other Place,\u201d oil, 44 x 40 inches<\/p>\n

\"an\u201cCottonwood Stand with Distant Rain,\u201d oil, 18 x 26 inches<\/p>\n

\"an\u201cLong Shadows,\u201d oil, 18 x 30 inches<\/p>\n

\"an\u201cUinta Veil,\u201d oil, 18 x 30 inches<\/p>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> now, and support independent arts publishing.<\/p>\n

Hide advertising<\/p>\n

Save your favorite articles<\/p>\n

Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop<\/a><\/p>\n

Receive members-only newsletter<\/p>\n

Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms<\/p>\n

\t