It's the inevitable result of being the father of two thriving youngsters that my studio retreated from thetop floor to the basement. There I work conjuring up in paint the people and places first captured by distant photographers. Astonishingly, my brilliant wife is the chief supporter and sound critic of this endeavor. I’ve come to realize that I’m ensconced down there, habitually scrapping, coating and repainting images because it’s the best way I know to scratch at deeper personal questions I have about mortality and time’s passing. Inadequate as it is, making paintings of others (many long now dead) brings some perspective on my own life and all I hold dear. It also brings (at lucky moments) profound satisfaction in making something truthful and beautiful in the face of my fears and anxieties.
Bradford Johnson, Somerville, 2011
Education
1994 Hunter College, NYC - Master of Fine Arts
1987 Wheaton College, IL - Bachelor of Arts
1981 Rhode Island School of Design, RI
Selected Awards/Honors
2002 Yaddo, Inc., Saratoga Springs, NY - residency
2001 Yaddo, Inc., Saratoga Springs, NY - residency
2000 Yaddo, Inc., Saratoga Springs, NY - residency
1998 The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Inc. - grant
1998 Yaddo, Inc., Saratoga Springs, NY - residency
1996 Yaddo, Inc., Saratoga Springs, NY - residency
1995 MacDowell, Peterborough, NH - residency
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2011 Tangible Dreams of a Dying Explorer, BCA Gallery, Gordon College, Wenham, MA
2005 Trinity Inspires, Trinity Foundation Auction, Boston, MA
2005 Fidelity C&A Gallery, A Painted Response to Photography, Boston, MA
2004 GJA Gallery, Regarding What's Past, Chicago, IL
2003 Painting Past Photographs, The Distillery, S. Boston MA
2002 Trinity College Gallery, Chicago, IL
2002 Clare Weiss, Paintings, NYC
2001 WGBH Gallery, Salvages, Boston, MA
2000 LCA Gallery, Surface, Lexington, MA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2007 Tufts University Art Gallery, 4th Annual Summer Exhibition, Medford, MA
2004 Mills Gallery, BCA, The Drawing Show, Boston, MA
2004 Bernard Toale Gallery, The Boston Drawing Project, Boston, MA
2003 Addington Gallery, New Work, Chicago, IL
2003 Pepper Gallery, Gallery Artists, Boston, MA
2002 Addington Gallery, Paintings, Chicago, IL
2001 RISD Alumni Exhibition, Boston, MA
2001 Pepper Gallery, New Works, Boston, MA
2000 Pepper Gallery, Landscapes, Boston, MA
1999 Addington Gallery, Sightings, Chicago, IL
1998 BCA/Artcera Aids Auction, Boston, MA
1997 Islip Art Museum, Photoesque, Oakdale, NY
Selected Reviews, Articles, Interviews
Chelsea Mertz The Library as an Art Source
Weekend America National Public Radio, January 22, 2005
Lippincott, Robin Painting Past Photographs, A portfolio by Bradford Johnson
The Paris Review [Spring 2004, pg 161, number 168]
Millis, Christopher Smash Hits, BCA 18th Annual Drawing Show
The Boston Phoenix [February 13, 2004, pg12]
Camper, Fred Messages in the Medium
The Chicago Reader [August 9, 2002, pg. 20 vol.30 no. 45]
1 reproduction
Weinstein, Michael. Vanishing Point, the Elusive Image
New City, [July 27, 2002 vol. 17, no.738]
