Geoffrey Johnson

The pieces of artwork which I have chosen to write about is a collection of

artworks called Transparent Cities by Geoffrey Johson in 2013. The medium
used by the artist is acrylic paint which he has limited himself to a
monochromatic palette of sepia hues in order to bring more of the mood of the
city out to him. The reason why I chose to write about his collection of artworks
is because there is certainly a mood that resonates from each painting about the
place that he recreates since much of the detail is removed and certain things
are made to stand out, particularly the people. Usually the people are made to
be dark black which strongly contrasts with their surroundings so it gives the
appearance that although the people are together, there are apart from the
place where they are situated.
For the purposes of this analysis, I will be examining the image shown below. In
the foreground of the image, the pavement can be seen as a light grey with the
road located to the left. To the right of it, the pavement turns to a darker grey as
it is assumed that the building which is seen in the background is casting a
shadow over the street. In the mid-ground, there are people walking but each
person lacks detail; instead, they are coloured entirely black with very subtle
changes in tone in order to make them appear to be slightly 3D even though
they initially appear to be 2D. One person can be seen walking a dog next to
them whilst another can be seen crossing the street. There are also some
objects which can be just made out such as post boxes and the lamp posts. In
the background, the buildings can be seen but each are painted simplistically.
Details such as windows can only be seen on closer buildings which are darker in
tone to show that they are closer to the viewer. As the distance between the
buildings increase, they fade in colour until they disappear. What is also unusual
is there appears to be black rectangles floating in mid-air. At first, they appear to
be windows of another building yet they overlap with buildings that are in front
of it. There is a very thin outline of a building in the distance which could
possibly be matched with the rectangles as windows. Johnsons paintings are
certainly abstract yet they also appear real. Whilst the lack of detail is obvious,
the scale and sizes of the subjects within the painting is accurate so it appears as
if it is a photo with parts blotched out. His use of dark colours creates an
atmosphere of gloom but one of also nostalgia. Naturally, his monochromic
choice of colours reminds the viewer of old photographs which were limited to
black and white tones so it could also evoke memories, particularly ones that
took place in cities such as New York where each of the artists paintings are
based.
Next, I will need to do more media experiments which incorporates the theme of
places yet makes the subject apart from everything else. I could also research
another artist so that I may have a final idea for my Final Piece.