A new exhibit “The Rest is For You” by Sam Johnson opens Sept. 5 in the Kiehle Gallery on the St. Cloud State University campus.
The exhibit runs through Sept. 21 and features traditional wood-fired ceramics as well as related two dimensional works on paper and granite.
Johnson has built a strong studio practice making elegant vessels that display a somber patina of natural hues and irregular textures. Johnson states that the works “contain contradictory elements that provoke a sense of mystery and gravitas (soberness, weight, and grief).”
The past few years, Johnson has extended his expressions to two-dimensional work — slabs and drawings that reassess materials and presence as they escape their placement within three-dimensional forms. Many of the works shown at SCSU are being shown for the first time.
SCSU’s Department of Art will hold an opening reception in the gallery from 1-3 p.m. on Sept. 5. Johnson will give an artist talk in the gallery beginning at 1:30 p.m. during the reception and the talk is open to the public.
Johnson received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Minnesota-Morris and his Master of Fine Arts degree in ceramics from the University of Iowa. Additional education has been at Denmark’s Design School and the studios of Richard Bresnahan, Koie Ryoji and Jeff Shapiro. Johnson has exhibited widely and is represented by Grand Hand Gallery in St. Paul, Minnesota, MacRostie Art Center in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and Weyrich Gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Kiehle Gallery is located in the Kiehle Visual Arts Center on the campus of St. Cloud State. The gallery hours are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.
