Barry Johnson (artist)

Johnson was born and raised in Topeka, Kansas.{{cite web|url=https://www.cjonline.com/news/20190331/kansas-boy-at-heart-topeka-raised-artist-represents-hometown-wherever-he-goes|title=Kansas boy at heart: Topeka-raised artist represents hometown wherever he goes|first=Brianna|last=Childers|website=The Topeka Capital-Journal}} He graduated from Emporia State University, majoring in business and marketing. Following his education, he worked in volunteer recruitment for the American Red Cross in Seattle, and then for Deloitte. After a few years in the consulting field, he started a full-time career as an artist,{{cite web|url=http://www.emporiagazette.com/education/article_6cb7a318-5d3c-11e9-9a9c-2f3a2970171b.html|title=ESU alum celebrates diversity through art|first=Ryann|last=Brooks|website=Emporia Gazette}} after teaching himself draw through online tutorials and books,{{cite news |title="barry johnson" in the Stories of Us – The Family Issue 9 |publisher=Blanc Magazine |page=188|date=August 2019|author=Hannah Rose Prendergast}} in order to take up painting in his spare time as a release from work.{{cite web|url=https://mefeater.com/mefeature-barry-johnson-the-consultant-to-artist/|title=#MEFeature: barry johnson, Not One for the Clout|date=15 March 2018|publisher=}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/diversity-in-home-interior-design-36718647|title=9 Black Design Professionals Share Their Thoughts on Diversity in Design}}

Johnson works in a variety of mediums, including murals, sketching, photography, painting, and sculpture. Many of his paintings are untitled.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestranger.com/visual-art/2017/08/02/25323489/out-of-sight-into-mind-art-on-the-margins-of-the-seattle-art-fair|title = Out of Sight, into Mind: Art on the Margins of the Seattle Art Fair}} In 2016 his work Word Is consisted of ten thousand cards with print-outs of tweets about Black Lives Matter scattered throughout the gallery space, an example of his mixture of art and activism. Johnson's work orients his identified mission of "Community, Culture, and Connection". In 2017 his work was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Center on Contemporary Art in Seattle, as well as appearing in the group exhibition Bloodlines at the ArtXchange gallery.{{cite web|url=http://www.realchangenews.org/2017/12/13/breaking-boundaries-many-faces-artist-barry-johnson|title=Breaking Boundaries: The many faces of artist Barry Johnson|website=www.realchangenews.org}}

In 2018 his works were shown in the solo exhibition I'm F.I.N.E in Tacoma, Washington. Many of the works in the show were inspired by American soul music.{{cite web|url=http://www.weeklyvolcano.com/arts-features/2018/12/Im-FINE/|title=I'm F.I.N.E - Arts - Weekly Volcano - The alternative newsweekly for Tacoma and Olympia|website=www.weeklyvolcano.com}} That year he also showed works at the Onyx gallery and Kent Summer Arts Exhibition, in addition to providing a TEDx talk on his process.{{cite web |last=Wynkoop |first=Gena |date=18 May 2018 |title=Artist of the Week: barry johnson |url=https://seattlerefined.com/features/artistoftheweek/artist-of-the-week-barry-johnson |website=Seattle Refined}}

In 2019 his paintings were a part of an exhibition put on by the Pierce County Aids Foundation.{{cite web|url=https://thetacomaledger.com/2019/02/25/reaching-down-rising-up-art-exhibit-commemorates-national-black-hiv-aids-awareness/|title='Reaching Down, Rising Up' art exhibit commemorates National Black HIV/AIDS awareness|first=Alex|last=Alderman|date=25 February 2019|publisher=}} In 2020, johnson became a part of the Vivid Matter Collective, which created activism through art in the City of Seattle.{{Cite web|url=https://crosscut.com/2020/07/saving-seattles-pandemic-and-protest-murals|title=Saving Seattle's pandemic and protest murals | Crosscut}} He painted the "E" in the Black Lives Matter mural created during the brief period CHOP existed in Seattle.{{Cite web|last=Keimig|first=Jasmyne |title=CHOP's "Black Lives Matter" Mural Gets an Unwanted Layer of Sealant|url=https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2020/07/07/44046583/chops-black-lives-matter-mural-gets-an-unwanted-layer-of-sealant|access-date=2020-11-03|website=The Stranger|language=en}}

Some of Johnson's works have included accompanied texts describing his "detailing times, ideas, external influences and his own internal state during the creative process." He has stated that his use of the text aids in his intention to tell a story through his art. His work is inter-disciplinary and uses a variety of tradition and atypical mediums. Others have said of his work that, "The fluidity of his art allows Barry to work across painting, sculpture, installation, film and fashion."{{Cite web |url=https://d3czolpekmjw7h.cloudfront.net/article/2020-06-11-barry-johnson-the-art-of-creating-new-personas |title=Barry Johnson: The art of creating new personas | Art News and Events | Rise Art |access-date=2020-07-17 |archive-date=2020-07-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717232538/https://d3czolpekmjw7h.cloudfront.net/article/2020-06-11-barry-johnson-the-art-of-creating-new-personas |url-status=dead }}

Johnson has also worked as a children's book author, writing and illustrating the book Oh What Wonderful Hair, based on his experiences with his daughter.

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• [https://www.barryjohnson.co/ Barry Johnson's website]

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Category:Living people

Category:Emporia State University alumni

Category:21st-century American artists

Category:American children's book illustrators

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Writers from Topeka, Kansas