Jim Johnson, Professor Emeritus, taught Painting and Drawing in the
Department of Art & Art History at the University of Colorado at Boulder from 1970-2005.
He developed the department's Integrated Media and Computer
Imaging programs and taught Principles of Color as well as seminars in contemporary art.
Johnson produced over 60 videotaped interviews with participants
in the department's Visiting Artist Program and interviewed many of them personally for the WHAT FOLLOWS...video series.
As a Fellow in the ATLAS Institute, Johnson was instrumental in the creation of the Center for Arts, Media and Performance and served as it's first Director.
A graphic artist in the broadest sense of the word, Johnson makes paintings, drawings, constructions and prints, as well as artist's books, typefaces, bumper stickers and T-shirts. Working in digital media, he has produced numerous animations, installations and interactive programs.
Johnson has a long-held interest in the relationship of words and images. His book/installation, "A Thousand Words" is in the Denver Art Museum's Permanent Collection. Other books are in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Library and Archive, London, the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles and the archives of the Chicago, San Francisco and Otis Art Institutes.
EDUCATION
1970 MFA, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
1967 BFA, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts
ONE-ARTIST EXHIBITIONS (selected)
- 2012
- Jim Johnson Folios & Other Open Books, Abecedarian Gallery, Denver,
CO
- Jim Johnson WORD WORKS, O'Sullivan Art Gallery, Regis University,
Denver,
CO
- 2009
- MAGIC SQUARES, ATLAS Institute, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
- 2006
- "Three Drawn
Conclusions & Other Literalisms with The Itinerants", Studio 258,
Denver, CO
- 2005
- "Magic Squares", Studio 258, Denver, CO
- 2004
- "A Thousand Words and
Other Pictures", Amos Eno Gallery, New York, NY
- 2001
- "Open Workyards", Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art,
Boulder, CO
- "Virtual Workyards",
Alt-X Network
- 1994
- Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO
- 1993
- Walker's Point Center for the Arts, Milwaukee, WI
- 1991
- C.A.G.E. Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
- 1990
- Artist's Book Works, Chicago, IL
- 1986
- Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities, Arvada, CO
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selected)
- 2023
- "Weather Conditions", RULE Gallery, Marfa, TX
- 2022
- "Off The Shelf", Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
- "Word Into Art", Boulder Public Library, Boulder, CO
- 2021
- "Word Play", Arvada Center For The Arts & Humanities, Arvada, CO
- "Pandemonium", Spark Gallery, Denver,CO
- 2020
- "Red @ Rule", RULE Gallery, Denver, CO
- 2019
- "Narrative Threads", Durango Arts Center, Durango, CO
- "Murmurations", First Congregational Church Gallery, Boulder, CO
- 2018
- "Form + Void", Carbondale Arts R2 Gallery, Carbondale, CO
- Word | Image | Object. Tallyn's Reach Library, Aurora, CO
- "Narrative Threads", The Art Gym, Denver, CO
- "Imaginary Maps", First Congregational Church Gallery, Boulder, CO
- "Narrative Threads", R2 Gallery in The Launchpad, Carbondale, CO
- 2017
- RULE @ ThePool, Mr. Pool, Boulder, CO
- 2016
- "Form & Void", RULE Gallery, Denver, CO
- HOVAB, The Dairy Arts Center, Boulder, CO
- Contemporary Book Arts: 100+, Saint Anselm College, Manchester, N.H.
- 2015
- "Required Reading", RULE Gallery, Denver, CO
- "Criss Cross", Museum of Friends, Walsenburg, CO
- 2014
- Gallery Director Invitational, Abecedarian Gallery, Denver, CO
- Icebreaker 5, Ice Cube Gallery, Denver, CO
- 2013
- Pattern Shop Studio, Denver, CO
- 2011
- FILE - Electronic Language International Festival, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- "Frame of Mind", Denver Theater District, Denver, CO
- 2010
- "Creative Capitol", Denver International Airport, Denver, CO
- 2007
- "TOAST", Department of Art & Art History, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
- 2006
- "Neo Dolce", High Energy Constructs, Los Angeles, CA
- "Decades of Influence: Colorado 1985-Present", Museum of Contemporary
Art/Denver, Denver, CO
- The
Experimenter & the Art of Perception, Artpool Art Research Center,
Budapest, Hungary
- 2004
- "Visions del Norte", Academia de San Carlos, Mexico City, Mexico
- sceneCOLORADO sinCOLORADO, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
- Winter Group Show, Amos Eno Gallery, New York, NY
- 2003
- "Ser y No Ser/To Be and Not To Be", Casa Borda, National School of
Fine Arts, Taxco, Mexico
- "Context: Art & Words", The Art Center, Grand Junction, CO
- "Arte e Ecologia", Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art,
Boulder, CO
- 2002
- "Solace", Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO
- "New York-DC", Gallery 10 Ltd., Washington, D.C.
- 2001
- "New York, New York", ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL
- "Slugs and Dingbats: A Double-Take on Type",
Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Arvada, CO
- "Organic Geometries", Dairy Center for the Arts,
Boulder,
CO
- 2000
- Winter Group Show, Amos Eno Gallery, New York, NY
- 1999
- Member's Invitational, Edge Gallery, Denver, CO
"Black & White: Perspectives in Contrast", Republic Plaza, Denver,
CO
- 1998
- "The Box Show", Ron Judish Fine Arts, Denver, CO
"Strong Words: Art, Text and Language",
The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Arvada, CO
- 1997
- "The View from Denver", Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien,
Vienna, Austria
"Boite-Box", Artpool Foundation & Art Research Center,
Budapest,Hungary
- 1996
- CONTIGUITE, Fonds Regional d'Art Contemporain de Basse-Normandie,
Caen, France
"Digital Images", Regis University, Denver, CO
- 1995
- Third Annual New York Digital Salon, School of Visual Arts, New York,
NY
"The Hands Project", Le Lieu, Centre en Art Actuel, Quebec,
Canada
"Options: 1 Selections from the Modern and Contemporary Permanent
Collection", Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
"reReading", Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina Public Library,
Saskatchewan, Canada
- 1994
- V-TOPIA, Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland
"WORD", Boulder Art Center, Boulder, CO
- 1993
- "First Sightings, Recent Modern & Contemporary Acquisitions", Denver
Art Museum, Denver, CO
"100th Anniversary Exhibition", Denver Art Museum, Denver,
CO
- 1992
- Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO
- 1991
- International Exhibition of Visual Poetics, Museu de Arte
Contemporanea de Americana, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO
- 1990
- "Multiples", Nexus Gallery, Atlanta, GA
COLLECTIONS (selected)
Museum of Modern Art , New York, NY
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Minneapolis Museum of Fine Arts, Minneapolis, MN
Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN
Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA
Tate Library and Archive, London, UK
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India
Otis Art Institute Archives, Los Angeles, CA
New York Public Library, New York, NY
Denver Public Library, Denver, CO
University of Denver Penrose Library, Special Collections, Denver, CO
Other Books and So Archive, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Archive Small Press Communication, Antwerp, Belgium
Artpool Foundation & Art Research Center, Budapest,Hungary
Ruth & Marvin Sackner Archive, Miami, FL
San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, IL
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Indiana University, Fine Arts Library, Bloomington, IN
University of California, Santa Barbara, Davidson Library, Santa Barbara, CA
Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, NE
Kaiser Permanente, Denver, CO
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Denver, CO
PUBLICATIONS (selected)
- 2021
- No Mean Feet: Typewriter & Rubber Stamp Poems 1969-1987, Wry n.8, Wry Press, 2021, Longmont, CO
- 2017
- Le Scat Noir #224 & #223, Black Scat Books, May & June 2017, San Francisco, CA
- MANTISSA, "Melloon", with Steve Katz, Spring 2017, p. 48, Orange, CA
- 2016
- "Words and Wire", WESTWORD, Michael Paglia, Dec. 22-28, 2016, p.24, Denver, CO
- 2007
- Decades of Influence-Extended Remix, Museum of Contemporary
Art/Denver, Denver, CO
- 2006
- Umbrella, "Aurora A-Z", Judith Hoffberg, September 2006,
www.umbrellaeditions.com, Santa Monica, CA
- 2005
- Images & Imagery, "Web Installation Art, Interactivity and User
Connectivity", Elizabeth Menon, 2005, pp. 31-32, Peter Lang, NY.
- 2002
- Artforms, Preble, Preble and Frank, p. 181, Prentice Hall,
Upper Saddle River, NJ.
- 2001
-
"Jim Johnson's Iconophoria", Peter Frank, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO
- 2000
- AFCA News, "Favorite Piece...", Alice Abrams, Vol. 20, No. 1, Denver
Art Museum, Denver, CO
- 1998
- Loose Watch, Invisible Books, p. 187, London, England
- 1997
- "The View from Denver", Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung
pp. 268-269, Ludwig, Vienna, Austria
- 1995
- Leonardo, "Third Annual New York Digital Salon", Vol. 28, No. 5,
1995, p. 458, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
- 1994
- Westword, "Wasted Words", Hart Hill, August 17-23, p. 65
Taproot Reviews, Issue #4, Spring, Burning Press, Cleveland, OH
Networker Post, Museum of Artpool, p. 33, Budapest, Hungary
- 1993
- Umbrella, Vol. 16, #2 & 3, pp. 51-52, Glendale, CA
Microtimes, "Art Online", March 8, 1993, pp. 298-300
- 1992
- IDEA, International Directory of Electronic Arts, Chaos Editions,
Paris, France, p. 276
Umbrella, Vol. 14, # 2, p. 55, Glendale, CA
Leonardo, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 93-94, San Francisco, CA
GALLERY & DISTRIBUTION AFFILIATIONS
Abecedarian Artists
Books, abecedariangallery.com, 720-230-4566
Printed Matter Inc., 231 11th
Avenue, New York, NY 10001, 212-925-0325
Rule Gallery, 808 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204, 303-800-6776
2023 Curriculum
Vitae
