Heskin Contemporary is pleased to announce an exhibition of new works by Erick Johnson.  The opening reception will be held Thursday, September 13th from 6 to 9 PM.

Erick Johnson's current paintings and works on paper continue his explorations of color and form, featuring uneven grids, sometimes jagged, sometimes swaying. His shapes suggest pennants and sails that simultaneously break apart and cohere creating fresh harmonies.  Improvisational yet deliberate, Johnson is able to suggest movement and stillness through his woven, puzzle-like shapes.

Inspired in part by the syncopated visual syntax of the city, Johnson's images in oil on canvas or gouache and charcoal on paper, suggest the interruptions and cohesions of an urban environment, places where unlikely collisions can occur, while also extending abstraction's preoccupation with the grid.  As the artist has said, " Starting with simple rules, I like to build structures of unlikely elements and through the process of painting, scraping, sanding, and layering bring everything to a new level of coherence."  Johnson's surfaces reveal his process of working, at once pristine and precise as well as loose and spirited.

Born in San Francisco in 1959, Johnson studied at the School of Visual Arts and earned a MFA from the Milton Avery School of the Arts at Bard College in 2004.  He has shown with Geoff Young Gallery in Gt. Barrington and Whitespace Gallery in Atlanta as well as numerous group shows in New York City.  He works in New York City where he lives with his wife and daughter.

This exhibition is Johnson's second solo show at Heskin Contemporary and is accompanied by a catalog with essay by Geoff Young.  The catalog can also be found online at heskincontemporary.com. For further information, please contact Elizabeth Heskin at (212 ) 967-4972.