The crux of Johnny Abrahams’ work lies in his concern for form, texture, and colour. Johnny Abrahams’ previous large-scale works on canvas embody introspection through the ritual of revisiting and magnifying his older pieces, and the series of works displayed in this exhibition suggests further progression in his visual lexicon. As a means of introducing greater humanity in his work, Abrahams uses a crude hand saw to cut the plywood panels on which he stretches his burlap canvas. The uneven edges of the wooden panels pierce through the burlap’s irregular and coarse texture - all leading to a rougher, grittier finish than his older pieces. Johnny Abrahams willfully embraces the “accidents” brought on by his own hands and tools, and finds perfection in imperfection.
조니 아브라함스의 작품의 궁극적인 핵심은 형태, 질감, 색에 대한 끊임없는 탐구이다. 조니 아브라함스의 대형 캔버스 작품들이 작업 초기의 무아레 페인팅들을 다시 보고 확대시키는 의식을 통해 자기성찰을 도모하였다면, 이번 전시에 보여지는 일련의 작품들은 그의 시각적 언어의 또 다른 성장을 보여준다. 더욱 다양한 인간미를 표현하고자 하는 작가는 작품의 삼베(burlap) 캔버스를 지탱하는 합판 판넬을 자르기 위해 조악한 톱을 사용한다. 작가가 직접 손으로 자른 나무 판넬의 울퉁불퉁한 가장자리는 삼베의 불규칙하고 거친 표면을 뚫고 나오며 이전 작품들에 비해 더 거칠고 투박하게 마감된다. 조니 아브라함스는 자신의 손과 도구가 만들어낸 이변을 기꺼이 받아들이며 불완전함에서 완벽함을 찾는다.
Born in 1979, Tacoma, WA, USA
Lives and works in London
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023
- Dog’s Dinner, Jack Hanley Gallery, New York
2022
- The natural solace of labor, Sunday-s, Copenhagen
- You and I are earth, 1661, Vigo Gallery, London
- The very colour of welcome, Sunday-s, Copenhagen
2021
- LITHS, CHOI&LAGER Gallery, Seoul
- A sprint for the idler, Romer Young, San Francisco
- In the divinely human state of nobodiness, Jack Hanley, New York
- Red weakens an hour, Jack Hanley, East Hampton
- After Hyacinth After Anemone, Vigo Gallery, London
2020
- Making Flowers Alive, Choi and Lager, Cologne
- Archaic Torso of Apollo, Sundays, Copenhagen
2019
- The hare beneath the harrow, Romer Young Gallery, San Francisco
2018
- I am the tortoise but also the cat and the dog, Vigo Gallery, London
- 9 Paintings, Vigo Gallery, London
- 10 Paintings, Choi and Lager, Seoul
2017
- Threnody, The Hole, New York
2016
- Das Angeles, The Hole, New York
2015
- x, y, zero, Jack Hanley, New York
2013
- Interference Study, Vigo Gallery, London
2013
- Conclusion: Inconclusive, Jack Hanley, New York
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS & ART FAIRS
2022
- HIdden UK, Hidden Ireland curated by Sean Scully, Flowers Gallery, London
- FLOWER, CHOI&CHOI Gallery, SEOUL
2021
- Otis Jones and Johnny Abrahams, Sunday-s, Copenhagen
- Bosco Sodi and Johnny Abrahams, Sunday-s, Copenhagen
2020
- Davide Baliano and Johnny Abrahams, Bjorn and Gundorph Gallery, Aarhus
2018
- Take Up Space, Pizzuti Collection
2016
- Two on Two, The Hole, New York
2014
- Frieze New York, Jack Hanley Gallery
- Warp and Woof, The Hole, New York
- Fertile Ground, Oakland Museum of California
- Subject to the Abstract, Galerie van der Mieden, Brussels
- Now-ism, Pizzuti Collection
- All of Us Together, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco
2013
- Frieze London, Jack Hanley Gallery
- Frieze New York, Jack Hanley Gallery
2012
- Frieze London, Jack Hanley Gallery