Mary Beth Johns – The Big Picture

This exhibition round includes works provided by Mary Beth Johns which will be on view in the North Floor Gallery from October 2 – November 23, 2024.  Lowe Mill A&E invites patrons and art lovers to join us for Open Studio Night, a building-wide experience when our over 150 studios will be open to the public.  The evening also includes receptions for all seven of our gallery spaces. This series gives the public a chance to meet and interact with visiting artists and discuss their work as it is on display and available for purchase. Come out, enjoy a pleasant evening, and maybe you’ll find that special piece of art that speaks to you!  The Open Studio Night reception is Saturday, November 23 from 5-7 pm.

 

About the exhibit:

My work is usually very large scale. I use my own photographs of the sitter from which to work to create these large-scale representations. I dramatize the sitter’s environment by painting with  electric colors such as a bright red, blue or neon green. The big pictures I have created present the subject in their everyday life to achieve the most honest presentation. The amount of space  the sitter takes up in the frame depends on the canvas size I have selected, but I mostly try to  create a life size image. One very large and very honest representation is Checking in at 49  which displays the scar on my abdomen and the shape of my body at this stage of life. The nature of intimacy between people in an honest representation is one of my goals as well such  as in Adoration; an image of my mother and my niece whom she helped rear. Some works focus  on clothes, shoes and gestures to present the sitter’s personality which makes for non traditional portraits. I even hesitate to use the term portrait. I recall Alice Neel’s thoughts about  her paintings saying, “I paint people, not portraits”. The large scale I use also negates the  qualities of traditional portraiture. The people I paint are mostly family and friends. Many of  these big pictures are of other artists here at Lowe Mill A&E. By painting them I have joined a long  tradition of artists painting other artists. I try to include the subject’s hands and/or feet because  outside of the face – these are the most expressive parts of the body that we can see unclothed. Though I do not paint hands in any kind of detailed way – I do include them when I believe they  say something about the sitter’s personality. I often use patterns or very large brush strokes to  accentuate the texture of the paint or to demarcate one space from another. I tend to think  about the subject as a series of colorful shapes that are mostly flattened on the picture plane. I  use limited modeling and shading to this end. I work very fast through dry-brush and owe that  ability to the acrylics I use instead of oils. I subscribe to the ideals of Expressionism over  Realism. It’s the sincerity in art making that I identify with in this genre and as Barrett says, I  engage with the idea that works of art should enliven the thoughts and emotions of the viewer. 

 

About the artist:

Dr. Mary Beth “Bee” Johns has been the Associate Professor of Art Education for Athens State University in Athens Alabama for 12 years – working through the Alabama Center for the Arts in partnership with Calhoun Community College in Decatur Alabama. Dr. Johns received her Master in Art Education from The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa and her Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University. However, it was at the University of North Alabama that she learned to paint with acrylics on a large scale when working towards a Bachelor degree. Presently, Dr. Johns leads the Athens State art teacher education candidates through the Alabama State art certification program and teaches the cap stone classes at ASU associated with this degree. In addition to this she teaches a critique class where new artists learn about aesthetic philosophy and its implementation in studio practice, Prior to accepting her position at ASU Dr. Johns was the museum educator for The Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Wilmington; now known as The Delaware Contemporary- an art space that infuses contemporary art and creativity into the community through exhibitions and educational experiences. Currently, working out of the Alabama Center for the Arts, Lowe Mill A&E studio 310, she has had the opportunity to engage the community again by allowing the public to view a practicing artist at work.

 

 

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