Artist Interview: Paul Johnson

October 22, 2020

Paul Johnson seems relaxed in the light, spacious and magnificently high-ceilinged studio currently available to him at the Camden Arts Centre. At the start of a two month period as artist in residence at Camden, he’s enthusiastic about engaging with the local community while here.

Local communities are becoming increasingly rare in a thriving, fast-moving city like London, he explains, yet spiritual groups in a variety of forms are prevalent in today’s society. Johnson is intrigued by such groups: ‘I think the lack of local communities in today’s society is leading people to become interested in spiritual groups and cults. They feel something critical is missing from their lives’.

It is small, esoteric communities of varying sorts that form the key inspiration for Johnson’s work. Drawing on the insignias used by political or spiritualist groups, the artist creates colourful, striking collages and banners. He tells me that often a logo, uniform or headdress will catch his eye to spur on a new piece, and he even purchases obscure badges, banners and similar material from E-Bay to use as inspiration.

Amongst the eclectic assortment of items in Paul’s studio are a plastic and rather intimidating head of Goliath with human hair used in a fringe play, a colourful image of a Masai warrior with accompanying exotic headdress and a large banner with the words ‘Delhi Temple 109 Hastings.’ Johnson manipulates these images according to his own whims and ideas.

Inspired by the Delhi banner, Johnson created a striking painting of a serious and very intense-faced boy (above) in a T-shirt bearing the tiger logo that appears on the banner. Has the boy become a recent convert to spiritualism? Is he sure of his beliefs? Is he afraid?

Johnson stresses that he’s keen to leave his work ambiguous: anxious for the viewer to engage with the works and reach his or her interpretation of their meaning.
‘I want to get people to use their own imagination to interpret my work…I may view an image in one way but other people see it very differently’.

Interestingly Johnson sites Alex Katz, the American figural Pop artist as a key inspiration in his work and one can see the technical similarities. However, he stresses to me that ‘Katz always sees things from a positive outlook, whereas I am often at the other end of the spectrum’.

The world is rarely calm and harmonious to Johnson and certainly there is an edginess and questioning air to his work. He describes himself as ‘a lapsed Catholic’ and I get the feeling that there is a great deal about organised religion about which he is sceptical.

There is no doubt, however, about the strength of his fascination with the spiritual.


Johnson has many plans during his residency; amongst them holding open studios, visiting local Arts and Crafts groups, as well as producing banners and communing with local artists. It will be fascinating to follow the development of the work that he produces in Camden over the next couple of months and it’s worth dropping in on him to see what he’s been up to…

You can meet and chat to Paul on November 11 as part of an open studios session with the artist. He will be in conversation with fellow artist Michelle Williams, discussing his practice and views on cults.

Tickets to this event are FREE and details on booking can be found on the official website:

www.camdenartscentre.org


Above; Paul Johnson, Brother Benedict, 2006, copyright the artist, courtesy One in the Other

Christina Sanderson, MyVillage, 24th October