Anything but Achromatic: Eric Johnson’s Surreal Cityscapes

The bright colors of spring will have a new competition this season as Eric Johnson’s colorful, reduction prints make an appearance at the downtown Ecce Art + Yoga gallery on Thursday, May 14.

Anyone who catches a glimpse of his work will be struck by the kaleidoscopic effect produced by the twisting buildings and squirming color patches. His pieces bear a strong resemblance to stained glass windows with their solid colors and intricate details that give the work movement and life. Each print is the culmination of countless passes through the printing press and the even greater culmination of skill and patience.

The chromatic images are created through the printmaking technique called the relief process. In this manner, a large Sintra (or linoleum) block is slowly carved away as each color is printed. The closer the print is to completion, the less of the original block remains until, in the end, everything has been carved away save the last color. Because Johnson must destroy the block to create his work, he can only produce one series of each print. While this limits the final number of prints, it makes each one more valuable.

Johnson grew up in the area and attended North Dakota State University for his undergraduate degree. It wasn’t until he travelled to Chicago and New York City, however, that he found his inspiration for the images that have graced his relief-cut prints for the last ten years. He began printing his colorful, curved buildings in 1999. According to the artist, the inspiration came from a spiral candlestick he bought in New York. “I just kept drawing it and then something clicked,” he says with a laugh. “So I guess you could say I was influenced by a candlestick.”

That inspiration led Johnson to begin creating his uninhabited cityscapes while in graduate school at the University of North Dakota. He took a break from the buildings after graduation and did not return to them until 2006. His other most notable series, begun in 2005, features solitary trees, all assigned a number. “I decided one day I was going to do thirty of them,” he says as he shows a page from his sketchbook filled with pen and ink drawings. “I’m up to twenty-seven, so I’m nearly done.”

His trees are sometimes titled, sometimes not, but their number always accompanies them. In this way, Johnson leaves the interpretation in the hands of the viewer.

“There’s so much symbolism and so many meanings with trees,” he said.  “I didn’t want to get stuck with one.” He had been in such a postion in graduate school, when his apocalyptic series tried to convey too many meanings. “I put in everything for meaning and then I got artist’s block,” he admits.

There seems to be no end to Johnson’s artistic creativity now, however. As an adjunct professor at the NDSU downtown building, he makes good use of the space and equipment, filling many flat file drawers with new prints. His work was chosen as the official Fargo Street Fair logo last year. His show at the Ecce Art + Yoga gallery will cover a wide range of years and showcase new work as well as a few pieces that haven’t been seen before. The reception for the opening will take place Thursday, May 14 from 6 to 9 p.m. The artist will be present to discuss his work. The show will run for two weeks.