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Brooklyn
Elements
An exhibition by Tone Johansen
March 1 to April
30, 2002
Grand Lobby, Central Library
Artist
Talk: Sat. March 16th, 2 pm
A group of poem-pictures on and
about Brooklyn everyday life, ‘Brooklyn Elements’ is inspired by its
language and constructed from objects found on its streets — from the
mundane to the provocative. Johansen’s work incorporates a range of
visual elements and textures, from wood, fabric and paint, to her own
jarring street poems.
There are four works displayed in the
exhibition, each with its own poem. One is a montage using geometric
shapes of wood bolted together, overlaid with a child’s shirt and a
painted pattern of army fatigue camouflage, along with the poem:
"The smack hit the
back of a young boys head The motion practiced, the impact accurate. Her Hands hammer him forging blunt steel. Black, white and red camouflage."
Another work is a montage of close-up
color photographs of beauty parlor mannequins with their synthetic hair
and brightly colored eyeshadow, with the poem:
"Going home from
the beauty parlor, head held high. Each strand scissored styled, sprayed Horsetail brown
Retriever beige
Soft helmet"
The two other works in this diverse
sampling of street life include a photo montage of a sculpture with
cavernous, porous shapes, and a painted and ‘poemed’ canvas
stretched trampoline-style with nylon wire over a frame of shaped
conduit, a flexible steel tubing. An original poem is integrated into
each work.
"I love that I can explore the
waterfront and streets of Red Hook where I live and bring the synthesis
of what I see to those who visit Brooklyn Public Library." says
Johansen. "Here, I can draw everyone who comes in into my street
life with provocative words and images.’
Johansen works in many media such as
painting, drawing, sculpture, installations, photography and
performance. Much like a musician playing different instruments, she
finds that having a large register of techniques enriches and broadens
her ideas and expressions.
She has had solo exhibitions at Galleri
Pictura, Lund, Sweden; Ni Muser, Trondhjem
Kunstforening, Norway; Galleri Nebb, Oslo, Norway; Soho20, New York; and
Kentler International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, New York.
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(Click to enlarge)
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About
the artist
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Artist Tone Johansen grew up on an island in Norway. After studying art in her homeland, she won a grant to stay as a guest artist at The International Studio Program at PS1 in Long Island City, and found her home in Red Hook, Brooklyn. "Since I am here from Norway, the language, the words that I use are tools I work with just like the objects I find in the street," says Johansen. "I love their grittiness."
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