Duane Johnson (artist)

Duane Johnson (born October 11, 1968, in Junction City, Kansas) is an American artist, theater actor, author and radio host. He has lived in Kansas, Missouri, Louisiana, and Texas. He currently lives outside of Austin, Texas.[1]

Duane Johnson
Duane Johnson in 2008
Born
Duane Ivan Johnson

(1968-10-11) October 11, 1968
Junction City, Kansas, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationBA, MFA
Alma materUniversity of Texas at Tyler
Louisiana State University
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life and education

Johnson, the son of Cecil John Johnson Jr. and Nina Ruth Kimerer Johnson, has a brother Cecil "John" Johnson III, sister Elizabeth Biggerstaff, and an identical twin Dennis Johnson. Johnson grew up in the small East Texas town of Lone Star and graduated from Daingerfield High School in 1987. He attended Northeast Texas Community College and received an Associate of Arts degree and continued his education at the University of Texas at Tyler in Tyler, Texas, where he focused on intaglio, relief, and lithography and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He attended graduate school at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree. His graduate work included printmaking, book arts, painting, and drawing which culminated in his thesis exhibition, Surviving the Swamp.[1][2]

After graduate school Johnson spent four years, from 2000 to 2004, as the Gallery Director[3] for the University of Texas at Tyler during this time he taught art appreciation and computer foundation courses at Northeast Texas Community College in Mt. Pleasant, Texas. From 2004 to 2006, he worked as the art program director[4] for StoneMetal Press in San Antonio, Texas, where he taught workshops and classes in printmaking and book arts.

Career

Art
Duane Johnson
In My Room: Hero Within from the Bully Series

Johnson has had several solo exhibitions including Unsocial: The Bully Series Archived 2012-03-22 at the Wayback Machine,[5] at[6] in Kansas City, Missouri, Paintings: Duane Johnson, at Joan Derryberry Gallery at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee; "Easy Target: Narrative Connections",[7] at StoneMetal Press in San Antonio, Texas; The Visit, Fine Arts Gallery, Anne Dean Turk Fine Arts Center at Kilgore College in Kilgore, Texas. He has had two exhibitions with artist Amy Gerhauser; His & Hers x2: Duane Johnson & Amy Gerhauser, Ira M. Taylor Memorial Gallery in Frost Center for the Visual Arts at Hardin Simmons University in Abilene, Texas and His & Hers, recent work by Duane Johnson & Amy Gerhauser, at One9zero6 Gallery in San Antonio, Texas. His work has been included in numerous juried international and national exhibitions, including UMKC National Print Exhibition, UMKC Gallery of Art, University of Missouri Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri; 30th Bradley International Exhibition, Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois; School Days: Cafeteria Plan, Bonsack Gallery, John Burroughs School, St. Louis, Missouri; Iowa Biennial 2004, Project Art Main Gallery, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa; and Art & Social Activism, Olin Fine Arts Center Gallery, Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania. He has also curated a few artist books exhibitions including Bound/Unbound[8] with Amy Gerhauser[9] shown at StoneMetal Press.

An eight-page spread was published in the 2020 fall/winter issue of Creative Artist Magazine of Johnson's art, which also included his flag design that was flown at Rockefeller Center.[10]

The Bully Series[11] is a body of work reflecting on the relationship of bully-victim-onlooker incorporating photographs of various people that can be interpreted as any of those three bully-victim-onlooker.[12] Johnson realized that bullying wasn't just limited to the schoolyard and that it can sometimes carry over into adult life.[13] struggling to Johnson currently is working on a new series called the Sappy Series which is a more personal group of work reflecting on his relationships.

Select Public collections

Among the public collections holding Johnson's work include the New Orleans Museum of Art in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota, the Kennedy Museum at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, the LSU Museum of Art, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the University of Mississippi Museum in University, Mississippi, the Center for the Book Arts in New York City, and the Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery in New South Wales, Australia.

Other public collections include Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of Alaska at Anchorage, Iowa State University at the University Print Society in Ames, Iowa Tennessee, and Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee.[14]

Johnson Brothers Productions

Since 2000, Johnson has co-owned and operated Johnson Brothers Productions with his brother Dennis. Johnson Brothers Productions was created as an imprint for their films, comic books, photo books, and plays written by Dennis. In 2010, Johnson authored a book of photographs titled Caddo Lake: water, light and atmosphere, plus a second book titled Bully Series: Artwork from 2002-2008, both of which were published by Johnson Brothers Productions. Also in 2010, the production company released first issue of Little Joe and the Gang, a children's comic from characters Johnson created 10 years earlier. He co-founded in 2011 Arts Talk with the Johnson Brothers, a 30-minute live weekly internet talk radio program hosted by Blogtalkradio with his brother as they interviewed artists, actors, writers and other creative individuals about their work and process. In production is Arts Vu, a video documentary podcasts from various artists and arts events.

Acting

Johnson started acting while in undergraduate school at the request of his brother Dennis who was studying drama and appeared in a couple college plays such as The Time of Your Life and The Hasty Heart and is a member of Delta Psi Omega, a national honorary dramatic fraternity in which membership is earned through production requirements as well as academic achievement. Johnson has recently been working in the Austin film industry as an extra as well as directing and producing short films.

  • The Encounter (short film)" (2007) Actor/Producer
  • Laura is Cool(short film)" (2007) Actor/Director/Producer
  • Left Lane Closed(short film) (2008) Director/Producer
  • Friday Night Lights (2008) Extra
  • Strike Team Archangel (unreleased) Extra
  • Ninja James and the Beast Boy (2008) Extra
  • Serial Rabbit III: Splitting Hares (2009) Extra/Boom
  • Goin' Guerrilla (scheduled) Himself

References
  1. Johnson, D. 1998. Surviving the Swamp, Master of Fine Arts Thesis, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
  2. "Bio/Resume". Duaneijohnson.com. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
  3. American Art Directory 2005-2006, National Registry Publishing. 2004 p. 573
  4. Goddard, D. "Music and Art on First Friday," San Antonio Express News. June 3, 2005
  5. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2011-04-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley
  7. "San Antonio Current - ARTS: Artifacts". Sacurrent.com. 2005-01-06. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
  8. Brantley, Mary. "Bound/Unbound," review artist book exhibition, Voices in Art magazine, San Antonio, Texas. 2008.
  9. Goddard, D. "First Friday event features Latina Art," San Antonio Express News, April 4, 2008
  10. ""Johnson is featured artist in magazine"". pittsburgisd.net. November 20, 2020.
  11. Pederson, Sylvia. "Two Artists" Eugene Weekly, Dec (2005). Web.
  12. "MKAC and Duane Johnson". Mkartcenter.org. Retrieved 2011-05-12.
  13. Schubert, A. "The Art of Being Bullied," The Kansas City Star, Sep. 27, 2007
  14. Johnson, D. “Bully Series: Art from 2002-2008”, Charleston, South Carolina. 2010. 40 pgs
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