For those who are in the UK right now, there is another fantastic solo exhibition. English musician and painter James F Johnston, we know him mostly as one of the Bad Seeds musician, a multi-instrumentalist is, at the moment, having large scale solo painting exhibition ‘We’ve All Got Our Secrets’, at Deal Castle in Kent, grand opening, 14th of October. Ticket for the show covers free bar and 2 wonderful guests Jim Sclavunos and Daniel P Carte(Drummer of the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and Radio 1 Rock Show DJ Daniel P Carter. The grand opening have 40 pieces of Johnston’s oil painting work, including wooden sculptures made in collaboration with Corin Johnson This ticket will also entitle you to re-entry to Deal Castle over again, the next ten days’ duration.
James F Johnston is no stranger to “the darker narrative” in music or on paintings just the same. Subsequently, playing Faust, with Nick Cave, P.J.Harvey, Gallon Drunk etc… his paintings simply “sound” like his music and on 14th, an opening night of another “darker narrative” excellent solo show. Macabre every now and again, raw or not, dark or darker, his style always under control, carefully varied, vivid, showing how very much exciting painter he is, just as musician, with a strong identity, with exuberant strong images, perhaps even slightly eerie, maybe somewhat disturbing, kind of sexy, but again spiritual, an art to wonder and personality to think about. Johnston’s solo exhibition is an excellent collection of paintings of a rather powerful performance, a spirited kind, a powerful confirmation of his skills. Or all out there, now who fancy an art boasting with ‘punk rock’ ethic and a strong desire to offer something with a little darker mode. These are powerful paintings, strong pieces, apparently, he has started to work on a small scale in hotel rooms during his tours with Nick Cave or P.J.Harvey, after recording music, quietly posting images on his social media feed, discreetly imposing. James definitely waited things to grow. Not many musicians out there, who have energy to dedicate time after gigs to the other artistic expression. Too many challenges, out there, which takes energy away. But just as a top quality features in his music, it is the same with paintings. His paintings are both as bold and wild as his music or maybe not at a first appear. There is a definitely personal depth, with just enough amount of mystery, and striking use of colors.
Definitely, a beautiful and certainly, blurred lines, with some open spaces on the canvas, strange beasts, and glorious animals conjured up from somewhere out there: all that on the canvas. Like a beautiful natural phenomenon, which transforms the higher latitudes every autumn or spring, that is in the painting of a tree, or in animal, on a horse or a cat. Nature has inspired many fine paintings: the changes in colors of deciduous foliage. English painters in history has a tendency to encapsulate the process which changes trees, woods, or forests into richly glowing embers.
Like an ancient Dryad from mythology, the spirit of a specific oak tree, although this term is normally used more broadly for the nymph, associated with any specific tree of whatever type of wood, known as a wood nymph. An inspiration of the underworld, all James Johnston’s inspiration in nature, in the right energy with punk rock attitude, irreversibly bonded to a tree, or painted animal, with almost childish image, the animal in artist, and associations such as death of the tree or the other kind of associations of (sub)consciousness death or even new beginnings. It is about the art conversing with the nature of humanity and of what we feel strongly as a spiritual (non-physical) foundation for consciousness as the most encouraging element of art.