Lucas Johnson

A quick blurb on one of my favorite artists, Lucas Johnson— a painter, draftsman, and printmaker. I came upon a book of his work by chance several years ago and it has been one of the happiest accidents that ever happened to me. Johnson does meticulous drawings of weathered faces and desert landscapes atop dreamy ink washes. He has made editions of lithographs and etchings; his highly detailed, process oriented style lends itself well to both techniques. I imagine that if Dali, de Chirico and Magritte had traveled to Texas, they would have produced something resembling Johnson's work. His pieces aren't "conceptual" in the trendy sense of the word, but there is tons of concept— and emotion— in them. When I look at his images, I travel to places that I think I've been but I know don't actually exist in the real world. Check him out!

source: Lucas Johnson and Edmund Pillsbury, The Art and Life of Lucas Johnson (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006).