Dion Johnson treats the canvas as a stage, where he places collected images to create autobiographical narratives. Described by Ken Johnson of the New York Times as an artist who " combines thick paint - troweled, combed, smeared and dribbled - schematic diagrams of machinery, furniture and architecture and neatly painted images in a child's picture book style to dreamy and sensuous effect."

Los Angeles Times art critic David Pagel writes that Johnson's straightforward yet far from simplistic works "invite one-on-one interactions, inciting viewers to behave in a variety of ways.... In every case, Johnson's unguarded yet well heeled paintings hit us where we live.... Johnson's levelheaded works simply set your eyes in motion. Gliding across variously applied swoops, swishes, and smears of paint, your optical organs gain speed, momentum, and energy as you rediscover what it's like to see the ordinary stuff of everyday life anew -- with the fresh-eyed enthusiasm of the first time."

Johnson discovers the extraordinary that can be found within the ordinary. Says Pagel, "Johnson's refreshingly accessible pictures put the Pop back into populist."

Originally from Bellaire, Ohio, Dion Johnson received his BA from Ohio State University and MA from Claremont University. The artist lives and works in Los Angeles and has been represented by the Rebecca Ibel Gallery since 1997.

A catalogue of the exhibition 'Expanding Horizons', 2000, with a complete text by David Pagel, is available.

1975 Born Bellaire, Ohio.

Education

2000

Master of Fine Arts, Claremont University, Claremont, California

1997

Bachelor of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

Lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

2005

•‘Radiance’, Carl Berg Gallery, Los Angeles, California.

•‘Continuous Transmission,’ Desiree Snyder Contemporary Art, Sarasota, Flordia

2004

‘New Paintings:Project Room,’ Stephen Stux Gallery, New York, New York

2004

'Wow and Flutter,' Rebecca Ibel Gallery, Columbus, Ohio

2002

•'Popsicle Senarios,' Rebecca Ibel Gallery, Columbus, Ohio
•'Softer Frequencies,' Richard Heller Gallery, Los Angeles, California

2001

Bill Maynes Gallery, New York.

2000

•Rebecca Ibel Gallery, Columbus, Ohio (catalogue)
•Claremont University (MFA exhibition), Claremont, California

1999

'Flying Cars,' Peggy Phellps Gallery, Claremont, California

1998

•Rebecca Ibel Gallery (Ibel Simeonov), Columbus, Ohio
•ROY G BIV, Columbus, Ohio

1997

•Columbus State Gallery, Columbus, Ohio
•Exposures Gallery, Columbus, Ohio

2006

‘Sush Machida Gaikotsu, Dion Johnson, Kelly McCormick’, Rebecca Ibel Gallery, Columbus, Ohio.

2005

Carl berg Gallery, Los Angeles, California
‘Fabulous,’ Rebecca Ibel Gallery, Columbus, Ohio

2004

•‘Holiday Show 2004,’ Rebecca Ibel Gallery, Columbus Ohio
•‘The Claremont Seven,’

[Seven-Degrees], Laguna Beach, California
•'Observations,’ Carl Berg Gallery,

Los Angeles, California
•‘Reordering Reality: Collecting Contemporary Art,’ The Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus Ohio

2003

‘Fresh: Works on Paper, A Fifth Anniversary,’ James Kelly Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM

2003

'Ten Years in Columbus, Part 1,' Rebecca Ibel Gallery, Columbus, Ohio

2001

•'Summertime 2001, Part 2,' Rebecca Ibel Gallery, Columbus, Ohio
'•Informants,' The Harris Art Gallery, The University of La Verne: La Verne, California
•Art Chicago, Rebecca Ibel Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
•'Homage: Roland Reiss,' Claremont Alumni Show, Center for the Arts, Claremont, California
•'Cross-pollination,' curated by Susan Joyce, The Holland Tunnel, Brooklyn, New York

2000

•'Currencies,' Patricia Correia Gallery, Santa Monica, California San Francisco

• International Art Exposition, Rebecca Ibel Gallery, San Francisco, California
•Art Chicago, Rebecca Ibel Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
•'New American Talent, 15th Exhibition,' curated by David Pagel,

•The Jones Center for Contemporary Art, Austin, Texas and traveling through 2001 to Shore Art Gallery, Abilene, Texas;

•Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council, Texarkana, Texas; •Buddy Holly Center, Lubbock, Texas; •Fire House Gallery, Del Rio, Texas

1999

•'Emerging Artists in Ohio,' Sandusky Cultural Center, Sandusky, Ohio
•Art Chicago, Rebecca Ibel Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
•San Francisco International Art Exposition, Rebecca Ibel Gallery, San Francisco, California

1998

'Booth,' First Year Graduate Exhibition,' Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California

1997

•'Ohio,' Rebecca Ibel Gallery (Ibel Simeonov), Columbus, Ohio
•'Exhibition 280,' Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia
•'85th Annual Spring Juried Exhibition,' Columbus Art League, Columbus, Ohio
•'Edith-Fergus Gilmore Awards Exhibition,' Hopkins Hall Gallery, Columbus, Ohio
•'From the Sketchbook of,' Columbus Art League, Columbus, Ohio
•'Christmas Extravaganza,' Acme Art Company, Columbus, Ohio

1996

•'Rumplestiltskin,' Hopkins Hall Gallery, Columbus, Ohio
•85th Annual Fall Juried Exhibition, Columbus Art League, Columbus, Ohio
•The Third Annual Juried Art Show, The Unicorn Gallery, Columbus, Ohio
•Yale Norfolk Student Exhibition, Norfolk, Connecticut
•Undergraduate Juried Exhibition, Hopkins Hall Gallery, Columbus,Ohio

1995

•'Media Arts Extravaganza,' Silver Image Gallery, Columbus, Ohio
•'Everyone's Art Show,' Ogelbay Fine Arts Institute, Wheeling, West Virginia
•'Gravity Fed,' Hopkins Hall Gallery, Columbus, Ohio

Myers, Holly. 'Design without much direction', The LA Times, December 2, 2005
Fryer-Kohles, Jeanne. ‘Painter crafts, mixed media into his personal diary,’ The Columbus Dispatch, January 25. 2004. p.D4.
Starker, Melissa. ‘Entering The Atmosphere,’ Alive, January 21, 2004, p.21
James, Elizabeth Ann. ‘Art Blossoms On The Wind: Celebrating Time and Talent-Past and Present,’ The Short North Gazette, 2003. p.12.
Fryer-Kohles, Jeanne. ‘Sextet's Modern Pieces Sparkle,’ The Columbus Dispatch, April 6. 2003. p.F4.
Fryer-Kohles, Jeanne. ‘Childhood's Mystery Seen in Sunny Visions,’ The Columbus Dispatch, March, 2002. p. G7.
Ken Johnson, Bill Maynes exhibition review, 2001.
Scheiber, Curtis. "Dion Johnson, paintings that dogs and cats can understand," dialogue, January/February 2001, p. 28 (cover shot).
King, Joselyn. "Engineering background evident in former Bridgeport man's art," Wheeling News-Register, December 26, 2000 p. 21. Same article ran in The Intelligencer, Bridgeport, Ohio, December 26, 2000, p. 7.
Pagel, David. catalogue essay, "David Pagel on Dion Johnson," November 2000.
Hall, Jacqueline. exhibition review, The Columbus Dispatch, December 6, 1998.
Koeninger, Kay. exhibition review,The Columbus Dispatch, October 6, 1996.
King, Joselyn. exhibition review, The Intelligencer, Bridgeport, Ohio, Summer, 1996.