Gary Johns
In 2000, Gary Johns turned away from a highly successful career as an award-winning commercial film director and devoted himself to his dream of creating art without the constraints of commercialism.
Johns characterizes himself as an observer and recorder of the world in which he lives. His artwork reflects his interest in the decay that surrounds all of us. Johns finds beauty in recognizing and graphically photographing things that most people tend to overlook. These images, together with elements from his own paintings, drawings, scribblings, and detritus found on the street are juxtaposed in mixed media collages.
Johns most recent work is a collaboration with photographer Greg Gorman, which pays tribute to African tribal art and the inspiration it has had on American and European cultures. The marriage of classic portrait photography and interpretive contemporary art has resulted in an exhibition titled Homage: A Tribute to Tribal Artists. Under the direction of Harald Falckenberg and Philo Fine Art, Hamburg, Germany, a limited edition book has been produced.
Johns’ Artist Statement summarizes his way of working.
“It often begins with a scrap of discarded paper. A colorful snippet saved from the floor of my studio. Or found on the street among the detritus of urban decay. Sometimes it begins with a photograph of something I find compelling. Even an inconsequential scrap from a 50-year-old Peruvian newspaper can serve as the impetus for a collage.”
Johns’ Artist Statement summarizes his way of working.
“It often begins with a scrap of discarded paper. A colorful snippet saved from the floor of my studio. Or found on the street among the detritus of urban decay. Sometimes it begins with a photograph of something I find compelling. Even an inconsequential scrap from a 50-year-old Peruvian newspaper can serve as the impetus for a collage.
Johns’ work has been exhibited in various galleries in America and Europe. Most recently at the Hohmann Gallery in Palm Desert, California, St. Petri zu Lübeck, Germany, and Galerie Melbye-Konan in Hamburg, Germany. His work has also been exhibited at The Chautauqua institution in New York for the past several years where he is a member of the Chautauqua Visual Arts.
In addition to his fine art career, Mr. Johns has designed several photographic books, worked as the architect on three homes, and has won every major award in the commercial film and advertising arena.
Johns has an undergraduate degree from Ohio State University and has done graduate work at George Washington University. He splits his time between Los Angeles and his summer home and studio in Chautauqua County, New York.
Gary Johns does not surf.
BOOKS
Johns, Gary D., & Gorman, Greg. (2023) Homage: a Tribute to Tribal Artists. Hamburg, Germany: Phil Fine Arts.
EXHIBITIONS
1984 UCLA Undergraduate Art Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1984 The Art Store, Los Angeles, California
2019 Leica Gallery LA, Los Angeles, California
2021 Fowler-Kellogg Art Center, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY
2022 Fowler-Kellogg Art Center, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY
2023 Fowler-Kellogg Art Center, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY
2023 Christian Hohmann Gallery, Palm Desert, California
2023 St. Petri zu Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany
2024 Galerie Melbye-Konan, Hamburg, Germany
COMMERCIAL FILMS
For national and international companies including Nike, Swatch, Lexus, Apple, Coca-Cola, LaBatts Beer, Range Rover, SuperCuts, etc. Winner of several Cannes Film Festival Lions.
