Neil Johnson
Neil Johnson was born in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, in 1952. After a long association with Wales during his early years, he first lived in West Wales during the early nineteen seventies. Later, Neil spent a great deal of time climbing, mountaineering and exploring within the Welsh landscape.
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He trained at the now Manchester Metropolitan University. For thirty years he enjoyed a highly successful career teaching Art and Design in South Manchester, while continuing to produce his own work. In 2007 he relocated to West Wales in order to devote more of his time to developing his own work and ideas.
Neil’s work primarily reflects landscapes, executed using pure watercolour technique. He is interested in the way in which we perceive our surroundings, the processing, storing and recalling of images, monocular and binocular, and the effects of time on these surroundings and images.
More direct influences that can be seen in the work include the passage of time and its effects, either natural or manmade. Imagery ranges from Celtic symbolism and relics, through lay lines and the water cycle, to more modern themes such as mining, alternative energy generation and contemporary architecture.
The resulting work, therefore, tells of a connection from the past to the future, linking human lives with nature, but is more about essence than snapshot, the feeling rather than accuracy of image.
Private Collections
Neil has work in private collections throughout the UK and in USA, Canada, Germany, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Greece, New Zealand and South Africa.
Exhibitions
1989 – 1997 Hanley Art Gallery (annual Clarice Cliff Collectors Club Convention)
1992 The Portico Gallery Manchester (solo show)
1992 Salford Art Gallery (The Laing Collection, competition)
1993 Astley Cheetham Gallery Tameside (joint show, Dave Bez)
1993 Marple Library Cheshire (group show, ‘The Frame’)
1995 The Portico Gallery Manchester (joint show, Dave Bez)
1996 Grand Designs Stratford upon Avon
1999 Wedgewood Museum
2003 The Portico Gallery Manchester (gallery retrospective)
2005 Isle of Dogs London (joint show)
2005 Wendy Levy Gallery Manchester (summer show)
2010 Willow Gallery Oswestry (joint show, inaugural exhibition)
2011 Wendy Levy Gallery Manchester (summer show)
2013 Museum of Modern Art Wales Machynlleth (solo show)