Timothy Johnson

(born 1947)

Gibson Desert with Detail from a Tibetan Rug, 1987

Footnotes

PROVENANCE
Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne (label attached verso)
Collection of Rupert Murdoch, acquired from the above in 1987
Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne (label attached verso)
Private collection, Sydney, acquired from the above in 1996

EXHIBITED
Tim Johnson - Paintings, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, 25 April - 16 May 1987, cat. 9
Tim Johnson - Paintings, Mori Gallery, Sydney, 10 November - 28 November 1987, cat. 9

LITERATURE
Tim Johnson, Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne, exhibition catalogue, 1987, p. 11 (illus.)

The solo exhibition Tim Johnson – Paintings, which included this work, was reviewed by artist and critic Robert Rooney in The Weekend Australian Magazine, 9 - 10 May 1987, on page 12. Rooney notes:

'The Tolarno show is a knockout, which is not to say that Johnson's work is the sort that gives the viewer a swift jab in the eye upon entering the gallery. Curiously, though, the large paintings do command one's immediate attention, despite the fact that (with the exception of Illusory City) they contain no instantly discernible images. As one moves closer though, their pale surfaces are seen to consist of tiny, multi-hued dots, across which subtle marks and casual configurations seem to drift as if unaided by the artist's hand.

In his text Johnson remarks that 'Papunya painting shows that representational images are also abstract... (they) are spatial renditions of landscapes and sites with records of events and signs of travel between them.' The same can be said of his own paintings, of which several were done in collaboration with Aboriginal artists (Women Dreaming with Mickie Brown and Lizard Dreaming with Kaapa Tjampitjinpa).

Johnson's pictures trigger many stylistic associations far beyond those between Eastern and Aboriginal art.... (His) appropriations are done with sympathy and understanding. They are neither kitsch nor exploitation.'