Johnna Arnold : MORE

I am an artist and photographer based in Oakalnd, CA. Here you will find updates on my shows and happenings, as well as general thoughts and meanderings.

[johnnack]

Artist's Lecture at S.F. Art Institute this Monday

I am thrilled to be giving a noon-time artist's lecture this Monday, April 30th at the San Francisco Art Institute. I'll be in room 16A (to the right when you enter and reach the fish, then down the hall and on your right) ready to discuss the work I've made over the past ten years. It's been interesting thinking about the evolution of my work, and all of the experiences that have played a part in my getting to where I am now. I'll have some workprints with me from my newest body of work, and am hoping for some good conversation. The talk goes from 12-1 sharp, is free and open to the public. I hope to see you there!

[johnnack]

Screenprinting at Southern Exposure Auction

 I had a great (but cold) time doing some live screenprinting at Southern Exposure's Auction this past weekend. The theme was Silver Era - based on Andy Warhol's aluminum foil wrapped warehouse space in the 1960's. Being interested in land use & transportation, I did some research and discovered that Warhol had hosted an "underground" party one night on an unused section of tracks at Grand Central Station. Hence, the image to your left; an overhead view of the spot where the party was. The tracks on the left continue on into the station proper, and the area on the right is actually under the Wardolf-Astoria Hotel. I enjoy the interactive / lack-of-preciousness that comes with these live screenprintings. Below, the wise man who brought this nice gray shirt for me to print on.

[johnnack]

Photo Alliance Portfolio Reviews

I was delighted to discover that I was a recipient of a partial scholarship for the Our World Portfolio Reviews via Photo Alliance last weekend at San Francisco's Art Institute. It caught me by storm- I was suddenly printing and looking for a decent box to put my stubbornly overly-sized images in. I had some wonderful conversations; getting to talk with people one-on-one about the work was really helpful and often gratifying. The whole event had a general good about feeling about it. Almost everyone that I met was there to share, and to support - and the location is almost angelic. Excitedly, I already seem to have made a good connection from the weekend, with Rebecca Horne, a photo-editor for the Wall Street Journal. She just put up a great review of my new work on her blog: http://rebeccahorne.blogspot.com/

The photo above is the latest in the new series. Shot in Benicia under the bridge - it's amazing down there.

[johnnack]

Screen Printing at Traywick

In a desire for fun, and for adding another dynamic to my photo show at Traywick, we had a freeway-intersection screen-printing event last week. Similar to the non-mart event a few years past, people were welcome to bring their own shirt or to buy a nice-new-organic one to be printed on. I baked some blueberry-corn muffins the night before, and a good time was had by all. I really enjoy the interactive aspect of making the shirts this way, its a fun way to get the art off the walls and to enjoy the process together.

The show comes down at the end of the month - come by before then if you can! 

[johnnack]

Beyond The Lens at Traywick Contemporary

I'm greeting the new year with a great new show at Traywick Contemporary, entitled Beyond the Lens. The show includes both older and brand-new work of mine; I just got back from helping with the installation and all looks great. It's pretty amazing to see a culmination of many years of work up on the walls, and showing with Lothar Osterburg and Marco Breuer is a treat. The opening is this Sunday, January 15th, from 4-6pm. The show will be up until March 31st - click on the link above for more details.

[johnnack]

SNAP!

Writing (Hwy. 24, Berkeley, CA), 2011, C-print, 32" x 40"

Good news - I am excited to be a part of the SNAP: A Juried National Photo Exhibition at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek. The curators for the show are both pretty amazing - Sandra Phillips, head photo curator at SF MoMA and Drew Johnson, photo curator at the OMCA. They chose two of my new photos to include - hot of the presses and just ready to share. The show opens December 8th, from 6-8pm, and stays up through the new year until February 19th. It should be a great show, with lots of great work. I hope you can make it!

[johnnack]

Turf

I-880 & Hwy. 238 San Leandro, CA; I-280 & Hwy. 101, San Jose, CA; I-880, I-580 & I-80, Oakland, CA, 14" x 14" 

It has been really fun to be a part of the Turf: Ecological Activism and Art show at Diablo Valley College.  Interesting work, all different perspectives on "environmental art" - The gallery at DVC is awesomely octagonal and the work all looked great! I made three new freeway drawings for the show - they'll be up from October 31st - December 1st. If you're out in the east-east bay make sure to stop by a check out the show!

[johnnack]

Proof at Southern Exposure

When my new photo (Ikea Parking-lot) came down from the Bedford Gallery, I figured I would take it over to Southern Exposure to see how it would fair with the juror (Denise Markonish, Curator at Mass MoCa) for their annual group show this year - and the word was good! So I am delighted to say that I get to be a part of one of the biggest and best San Francisco nonprofit shows around. The show is up from September 16 - October 8! Hope to see you there! 

[johnnack]

Outlandish at Bedford Gallery

Ikea Parkinglot / I-880,  Emeryville, CA 32" x 40" 2011

I've been working on some new photos. All of them have me in them, dwarfed by local freeway structures. It's been fun crawling around these prohibitive lonely places, to be shooting film, and just to be creating again. This new piece is on view for the remainder of the summer at the Bedford Gallery, where it received a juror's award. 

http://www.bedfordgallery.org/exhibitions/docs/Outlandish_PR.pdf

[johnnack]

Happy Holiday Time Everybody!

Frolic and play, the eskimo way...

[johnnack]

Sesum fo L'lab

On Saturday night I documented an excellent art event which was organized by the wonderful Polish artist Paulina Olowska (top photo) along with the Wattis Institute/CCA. The event included performance pieces and ultimately turned into a beautiful dance party at which I haven't had such fun taking photos in years. So fitting that in the description of the event it is states:  "...the idea that through mirroring it is possible to see more clearly who we are on the inside, to reveal more about ourselves." It was a beautiful night.  click here for more information on Capp St./Wattis, Paulina Olowska & the Magnificent Seven

[johnnack]

thank goodness for rain

Had to keep my photo one students indoors - clearly they got into trouble.

[johnnack]

Freeway embellishment

Come to the East Bay (mini) Maker Faire on October 24th at the Park Day school in Oaktown. In addition to a wealth of good an interesting activities planned, I will be there to help you silkscreen a local freeway intersection onto a shirt or other piece of fabric (a dream come true!) Bring a t-shirt of yours that needs embellishment, or I will bring a few extra for those in need. I will also have some pre-made shirts for sale. What fun! Tickets are half price if you can think in advance: http://ebmakerfaire.wordpress.com/get-tickets/

Hope to see you there!

[johnnack]

Inside/Out at OAK

My video is up and running at the Oakland Airport in the Southwest Baggage Claim. Exciting yet odd to see myself quite so large - I am continually driving, continually missing the view from outside my window. The perfect piece for just after you've landed from your long flight, & just another reason to fly OAK!

[johnnack]

Lighting Studio Fun

More fun teaching digital 2 at Rayko. The ghostly image above was created by setting my camera to a long exposure during which time the strobes went off. Really this was the only way to go at the time, as a student had the pocket wizard (strobe control), so a long exposure and the hope that I would hit my shutter not too long before she hit hers was the way participate. Another fun class, & it looks like all of our feet are off the ground at the same time -- impressive.

[johnnack]

I will be 8' tall

I am excited to say that a video of mine has been selected to be presented at the Media Wall in the Oakland Airport (by the Southwest baggage claim) via the Oakland Museum of California!  It should be up for weary traveler's admiration starting in late June. This video is a simple exploration of a short drive along I-580, with one camera pointing in the car while the other points out.  More details are coming - but here is a link to the video for curious ones: http://www.johnnaarnold.com/video/drive.php

[johnnack]

Non-Mart fun

I had such a great time at the Non-Mart event! Not knowing quite what to expect, me and my assistant (daughter) brought in the screens, ink, squeegees, some extra shirts and thank goodness some rags... Soon we were set up and ready to go and wonderful people of all sorts were ready with their garments and enthusiasm. It all became a bit of a blur... I can't tell you exactly how many shirts were screened - I can tell you that I got a wonderful scarf, some great jelly, and some very cool artwork in return for the fun. Not only that but once we were finished and cleaned up I got to try an awesome rum ball (or two) and watched some gorgeous live logo-removal. I packed up and drove home in high spirits. A special thanks to Sasha Petrenko for putting this together and Jeff King for hosting the space. Can't wait to do it again next year.