Clay Johnson was born and raised in Durham, NC, where he studied studio art and art history at Duke University, receiving a B.A. degree in 1985. He then worked for several years as assistant to painter Robert Natkin in Connecticut and New York City. In 1998 he began exhibiting paintings from his first series of mature work, which was loosely grid-based, and was inspired by the paintings of Paul Klee. Since then Clay's work has been exhibited widely at galleries across the country. He began his current series of work shortly after relocating to Wyoming, and, while essentially non-objective, the paintings contain a sense of the wide-open landscape of the American west.

 

Clay currently lives and works in Laramie, Wyoming.

 

Education

1985       Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and Art History, Duke University

 

Selected Exhibitions

2017

The Connected Edge: Clay Johnson, Jeff Kahm, Aaron Karp, William Havu Gallery, Denver

 

2016

Wide Open: New Paintings by Clay Johnson, Elins Eagles-Smith Gallery, San Francisco

Elins Eagles-Smith Gallery at ArtMarket Hamptons, Bridgehampton, NY

Elins Eagles-Smith Gallery at ArtMarket SF, San Francisco

 

2015

Elins Eagles-Smith Gallery at Art Silicon Valley, San Mateo

 

2004

Art of the Twentieth Century, Park Avenue Armory, New York

 

2003

Clay Johnson: New Paintings, District Fine Arts, Washington DC

 

2002    

Gallery Artists, Samson Fine Arts, New York

Clay Johnson: New Paintings, District Fine Arts, Washington DC

Poetic Minimalism, District Fine Arts, Washington DC

14th Annual Works on Paper Exhibition, Park Avenue Armory, New York

 

2001    

Gallery Artists, Samson Fine Arts, New York

13th Annual Works on Paper Exhibition, Park Avenue Armory, New York

 

2000

12th Annual Works on Paper Exhibition, Park Avenue Armory, New York

 

1999    

Small Works, District Fine Arts, Washington DC

Talent 1999, New Artists / New Works, Samson Fine Arts, New York

11th Annual Works on Paper Exhibition, Park Avenue Armory, New York