Matthew Johnson

Matthew Johnson was born in 1963 in London and now lives and works in Melbourne. From 1982 -84 he completed Higher Art Certificate, National Art School, Sydney.

Johnson's pigmented surfaces demonstrate a delight in the application and layering of paint. His studio is full of precious pigments that recall the work of Japanese nihonga - style painters who are trained in traditional methods of mixing rare pigments. Often made from natural materials such as shell, nihongo-style painters mix pigments that glisten with different textures Johnson uses the iridescent pigment iriodin which is made from sand to imbue the canvases with an effervescent glow.

Solo Exhibitions

2017
'Illume', NKN Gallery, Melbourne

2016
'Selected Works', Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide

2015
'Spectral Light', NKN Gallery, Melbourne

2014
'Resonance', Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide
'Selected Works', Olsen Irwin, Sydney

2013
'The Memory Well', Block Projects, Melbourne
'Firebrand III', In Focus David Paulson and Matthew Johnson, Brisbane

2012
'Coalescence' Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
Greenhill Galleries, Perth

2011
'Intricacies', Block Projects, Melbourne

2010
Greenhill Galleries, Perth
'Resonance' Fireworks Gallery, Queensland

2009
'New Paintings', Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
Block Projects, Melbourne

2008
Fireworks Gallery, Queensland

2007
Greenhill Gallery, Perth
Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne
George Petelin Gallery, Gold Coast

2006
Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane

2005
Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne
Greenhill Gallery, Perth
Meriton Project Space, Singapore

2004
Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
Greenhill Gallery, Perth

2003
Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne

2002
Ben Grady Gallery, Canberra
Greenhill Gallery, Perth
Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane

2001
Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne
Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney

2000
Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney

1999
Olsen Carr Art Dealers, Sydney
Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne

1998
Arts D'Australie, Paris, France
Moments in Civilisation, The Vault Contemporary Artspace,
Bundaberg Arts Centre, Queensland
Mappings, James Allen Gallery, Toronto, Canada

1996
'Of One, Of Many', Olsen Carr, Art Dealers, Sydney
Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne

1995
Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne

1994
Room Exhibition, Imperial Hotel, New Delhi
Room 32, Regents Court Hotel, Sydney

1993
Studio Exhibition, Sydney

1992
Chrisitine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne

1991
Studio Exhibition, Sydney

1990
Studio Exhibition, Sydney

1989
Studio Exhibition, Sydney
Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne
 

Selected Group Exhibitions

2018
'Convergence', Matthew Johnson and Magda Cebokli, Hill Smith Gallery

2017
'Spring. 1883', NKN Gallery, The Establishment Hotel, Sydney
'Weather patterns II', Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane
'Coney Island', Counihan Gallery, Victoria

2015
Imago Mundi, Italy
Weather Patterns, Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane

2014
'Melbourne Art Fair', Hill Smith Gallery
'Intermission', Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane
'Asia Contemporary Art Show', Conrad, Hong Kong

2013
‘Collective Identity (les)’, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery
‘A Private View’, Glen Eira Gallery, Caulfield

2012
‘Heat’, Tim Olsen Gallery, Adelaide
Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide

2011
Blue August, Fireworks Galkery, Brisbane
Eclectica Exhibition, Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane
‘Summer Solstice II’, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
Mosman Art Prize, Finalist

2010
‘Miscellanea’, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
Eclectica Exhibition Series (I and III) FireWorks Gallery Brisbane

2009
The Shilo Project, Ian Potter Museum, touring Regional Gallery of Victoria and New South Wales
Sculpture and Works on Paper, Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane

2008
Block Projects, Melbourne
2 x 2 Group Exhibition, Tim Olsen Gallery Annex, Sydney
Contemporaneous: Australian Contemporary Painting 1,
Wangaratta Exhibitions Gallery, Victoria

2007
Points of Departure, Tobey Fine Arts, New York
‘Views of Abstraction’ Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide
‘Tactile Imagination’, Ivan Doughety Gallery, Sydney
‘Utopian Visions & The Slump of Paradise’, Block Projects, Melbourne

2006
10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
Salon, Dick Bett Gallery, Hobart

2005
10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong, in association with Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
Stanley Art Prize, Tasmania

2004
Melbourne Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Buildings
Lines III, Fireworks Gallery, QLD

2003
Art Paris, Carousel de Louvre, Paris

2002
Depth of Field, Shepparton Art Gallery, VIC
Good Vibrations, Heide Museum of Art, Heidelberg VIC
Exposition collective, Conseil General de Loire Atlantique, Nantes, France

2001
Love Colour,Studio 91B, Adelaide
Abstraction: Spirit, Light, Pure Form, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney
Voyages dans le matiere, Atelier Claude Cerf, Paris
ART PARIS, Carrousel de Louvre, Paris

2001-2003
Hermanns Art Award, National Travelling Exhibition

2000
Accents Australien,Espace Adamski Designs, Paris

1999
Exposition Australie, Bastille, Paris
On Any Given Day, Bundaberg Arts Centre, Queensland

1998
Propositions Australiennes, Gallerie Luc Queyrel, Paris

1997
Espace Beziers, Beziers, France
Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam
Devoured by Paint, Olsen Carr Art Dealers, Sydney

1996
Aer Phoste, Dublin, Ireland
Flagging the Republic, Sherman Goodhope, Sydney
Abstraction Now, Geelong Regional Gallery, Victoria
3 x 3 Sites: Exhibition, Sydney, Christchurch, Berlin

1995
Icon of our Times, Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam
Group Show, Olsen Carr Art Dealers
Hidden Treasures, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney
Moet & Chandon Touring Exhibition
House, Canberra

1994
Bet Your Life II, Annandale Galleries, Sydney
Re-placing Australian Painting, Rosinis, Auckland; Test Tube Gallery,

1993
Australian Perspecta 93, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Moet & Chandon Exhibition touring State Galleries of Australia
Contemporary Australian Painting: Works from the Allen, Allen & Hemsley
Westpac Gallery, Victorian Arts Centre

1992
Future City - Art & Architecture, Bond Store, Sydney

1991
Over East, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Perth
Microsm, Gary Anderson Gallery, Sydney
10 x 10, Linden Gallery, Melbourne

1989
Fresh Art, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney

1988
Nine Young Artists, Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne
Ariennale, EMR Gallery, Sydney
Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne
Faber Castell Prize for Drawing, Rex Irwin Gallery, Sydney

1987
Group Exhibition, Mori Gallery, Sydney

1985
NSW Travelling Art Scholarship, Blaxland Gallery, Sydney

 

Awards, Residencies & Grants

2009
Victoria Commercial Architecture award,in association with MGS Architects, ML Design,Geelong

2008
Australia Council Barcelona Residency, Spain

2002
Cite des Artes International artist residency, Paris

2001
Artist in Residence, Bundanoon, New South Wales

2000
Arts Victoria, Travel Research Grant, Gabo Island, Victoria

1999-2000
Parks Victoria Artist in residence program, Petty's Orchard,

1989-1999
Artist in residence, Bundaberg Arts Centre, QLD

1995
Travel Research Grant Australia Council (V.A.C.B.)

1993
Fisher's Ghost Art Prize, Campbelltown City Gallery, NSW

1988
Faber Castell Prize for Drawing

Commissions

1997- 1998
Babylonian Frieze, Crown Street Project, in association with Alex

2002-2003
'Yellow House Project', Macleay St Kings Cross, in association with

Collections
KPMG, Sydney; Allen Allen & Hemsley, Sydney; Artbank, Sydney; Campbelltown City Art Gallery, NSW; Faber Castell Collection, Sydney; Freehill, Hollingdale & Page, Melbourne; Hyatt Hotel, Perth; Mallesons Stephen Jacques, Melbourne; Macquarie Bank; Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Perth; Bundaberg Arts Centre, Queensland; Smorgan Collection, Melbourne; State Bank, Victoria; BHP Collection, Victoria; Deloitte Ross Tohmatsu;Moorilla Museum & Art Gallery, Tasmania; RACV; State Bank, Victoria; Monash Museum of Art; News Corporation, and private collections in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, Cologne, Munich, Madrid, New York, Vancouver, Toronto & Canada.