Chris Johanson is an American

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and

street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graff ...

ist. He is a member of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Mission School The Mission School (sometimes called "New Folk" or "Urban Rustic") is an art movement of the 1990s and 2000s, centered in the Mission District, San Francisco, California. History and characteristics This movement is generally considered to have ...

art movement.

Biography

Johanson was born in suburban

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

in 1968. He grew up skateboarding, attending punk rock shows, drawing, and with a dry yet sharp sense of humor. He has no formal training in art, learning some technique by painting skateboards and houses. He was a prominent 'zine artist, and his publication "Karmaboarder," a skateboarding and art zine he published in the early to late 1980s, helped shape what later became initial well-known works. He moved to

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

Mission District The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...

in 1989, where he became a member of the local art community, initially drawing cartoons on lampposts and bathroom walls using black Sharpies. From 1989 until 1992, Johanson attended

City College of San Francisco City College of San Francisco (CCSF or City College) is a State school#United States, public community college in San Francisco, California. Founded as a Junior college#United States, junior college in 1935, the college plays an important local ...

. In 1994, Johanson did one of the initial board graphic runs for a new San Francisco-based skateboard brand, Anti-Hero, which brought his art to a wider audience. Also, during this time, he played in a band called "Tina, Age 13," which was scrawled on a drawing the band came across randomly. The band toured several times, and record numerous 7" records, an EP called "The Alcoholic Father of My Inner Child," and a full-length LP, "Good Feelings," for Goldenrod Records, which remained unreleased until the late 2000s. In 2004 he and Jo Jackson, an artist and his wife, moved to and bought a home in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. Johanson achieved international fame after participating in 2002

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition in ...

exhibition. The next year he was one of winners of the

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

SECA Art Award The SECA Art Award is a contemporary art award program that has been organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA) and supported by its auxiliary SECA (Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art) since 1967 to honor San Franc ...

Works

Johanson's works, involving expressing urban themes through found and recycled materials and graffiti, are a response to his suburban childhood. Johanson has made a number of site installations, and prefers to work in that medium. The illustration from his portfolio ''Everything that happens is because of the sun'', from 2002, in the collection of the

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single col ...

is an example of how the artist marries text with cartoon images. Like much of the artist's work, the message is up-lifting.Honolulu Museum of Art, wall label, ''Everything that happens is because of the sun'', 2002, accession 2014-35-17

Bibliography

* ''Chris Johanson: Please Listen I Have Something to Tell You About What Is'' by Aaron Rose, Sean Kennerly and Jack Hanley, Damiani, Bologna, 2007 * ''Peaceable Kingdom'' by Chris Johanson and Johanna Jackson, Nieves, Zurich, 2008 * ''Chris Johanson: Totalities'' by Arty Nelson and Chris Johanson, Deitch Projects, New York, 2010 * ''Chris Johanson'' by Bob Nickas, Corrina Peipon, Julie Deamer and Jonathan Raymond, Phaidon, London, 2013

References

External links

* * *
Jack Hanley Gallery
- exhibit information and gallery for Chris Johanson

Chris Johanson
at

Kadist Art Foundation Kadist is an interdisciplinary contemporary arts organization with an international contemporary art collection. In addition to being a collecting body, Kadist hosts artists residencies and produces exhibitions, publications, and public events. ...

Chris Johanson on KQED's Art School, 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Johanson, Chris 1968 births Living people American graffiti artists Modern sculptors 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists Sculptors from Oregon Artists from San Francisco Mission District, San Francisco Artists from San Jose, California 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists American male sculptors City College of San Francisco alumni Sculptors from California