Friends, family, and members of the Gowanus arts community crowded into Established Gallery Saturday night for the opening of Johnny Thornton's latest exhibit Sophisticated Mess.
How I Disappear Completely, mixed media on canvas, 60" x 48", 2019
Johnny Thornton (in red hat) and wife Hally Thornton (in green dress) with family at the opening of Sophisticated Mess
L-R: Sleepers on the Train, oil on canvas, 40" x 30", 2018 and Sleeping on the Train, oil on canvas, 20" x 16", 2018
"I’m just really happy about this work," Thornton said early in the evening. "I only had about three weeks to do this whole show." Though it was a "no-sleep marathon of art" leading up to the opening, Thornton added, "It’s been the funnest three weeks ever. It made me realize this is what makes me happy.... I can never do this again but I was like, I’m still in my 30s right now, so I’m going to do this."
Thornton, who is celebrating a milestone this week, also noted that the exhibit is a "birthday show," adding "I'm turning 40 in a couple of days, so this was the big show. I wanted to time-stamp where I was and the things that I find beautiful and ugly, so that’s where this came from."
The exhibit showcases two series by Thornton. In the front of the gallery, Sophisticated Mess displays two oil paintings he completed last year depicting sleeping commuters on the subway, as well as recent mixed media works that feature a "combination of oil painting and photo transfer." All of the photos were taken around NYC by Thornton. "I would see something or someone that caught my eye and would take a few photographs," he explained. Thornton transferred each photo onto a canvas or panel—a first for him—and then painted directly onto the image. "Since I started out my art career as a photo-realist I found this new process to be very satisfying," he noted.
Ice Cream for Breakfast on the N Train, mixed media on wood panel, 8" x 8", 2019
A Telephone Pole I Saw Once, mixed media on wood panel, 8" x 8", 2019
We Have an Excellent Gum Selection, mixed media on wood panel, 8" x 8", 2019
Keeping the Subways Clean, mixed media on wood panel, 8" x 8", 2019
Looking Good, Feeling Good!, mixed media on wood panel, 8" x 8", 2019
Thornton highlights his subjects—frustrated commuters on subway platforms, a bodega worker straightening out a candy display, a loose roll of toilet paper on the subway tracks—in vibrant shades, while obscuring their surroundings in a dreamlike, gauzy haze, showing the beauty in, and adding a touch of mystery and humor to, the banality of city life. "This came about as the beautiful melancholy of living in this city and how it’s so beautiful yet so dark at the same time, almost in a humorous way, and I wanted to capture that in my work, trying to find these little moments of either sadness or despair in the midst of just a normal day," he explained. "We live in this beautiful city with all these beautiful things around us and there’s just these moments where you’re just like ‘it’s killing me,’ and the opposite is true. You see beautiful things here in the midst of ugliness."
The gallery in the rear features the Alterations series, a collection of collaborative works in which local artists submitted a piece for Thornton to add his personal touch. Thornton often creates photo-realist paintings and draws on top of the images with a black oil stick. "I sort of see it as a mandala," he said, first going over an image in a "highly controlled" manner, then gradually letting the markings become more chaotic. When fellow artists started asking Thornton to alter their work in a similar fashion, he said he thought "that’s actually a fun idea." The collaborations are playful and show the trusting bonds between Thornton and his fellow artists.
L-R: Alteration of an Artwork by George Horner, 2019 and Alteration of an Artwork by Andrew Smenos, 2019
L-R: Alteration of an Artwork by Unknown Artist (Donated by Hally Thornton), 2019 and Alteration of an Artwork by Brooklyn Buzzy, 2019
Alteration of an Artwork by Alexandra Rubinstein, 2019
"Someone will give me a work and my instinct is to be super precious about the work, but the point of these is to be sort of careless and go for it, and that’s sort of what happened," he explained of the collaborations. Greg Griffith, owner of Established Gallery, offered a portrait he painted of Thornton for the project. "I shot a couple of pictures of him and just in the moment, his glasses were kind of falling off," Griffith said of the photo he based the portrait on. "This was a black background and then he added this oil stick on top of it. My work is usually very clean and colorful with lots of contrast, so he definitely altered it," said Griffith. "That was hard. My mom was not happy. She was like, 'Don’t do that,'" Thornton said of his changes to the portrait, such as whitewashing the black background, which give the painting a very different feel.
Griffith is happy with the result of the collaborative work as well as the exhibit as a whole. "It’s kind of old ideas and new ideas. This new body of work I think is really fantastic. From the first show he did to this, it’s just looser, more raw. It feels like his hand is faster. And the whimsical stuff in the back [Alterations] is super fun too."
Greg Griffith's original portrait of Johnny Thornton (photo courtesy of Griffith)
Greg Griffith with Alteration of an Artwork by Greg Griffith, 2019
The portrait of Thornton is not the first collaboration for the two artists. Thornton had his first solo show at Established Gallery in April this year, featuring a selection of black-and-white portraits, and the two co-curated a group exhibition at the gallery in June. In September, Thornton joined Established as the gallery's Director. "We have like minds," Griffith said of his decision to ask Thornton to help him run the space. "Our goals for a gallery, our personal goals as individual artists, and also just wanting to elevate the community with good shows, that was really it.... We just clicked." (Read an article I wrote in September about Griffith, Thornton, and Established Gallery here.)
Johnny Thornton shows off a gift from Gowanus artist Marlene Weisman, a stamp featuring the promo image for Sophisticated Mess
Thornton was born in Connecticut but grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa before moving to Tucson, Arizona. He studied Fine Arts at the University of Arizona and received his MFA from Parsons the New School for Design. He also works as the Gallery Director for La Bodega Gallery in Park Slope. After being based in Gowanus for four years, Thornton was appointed Program Director of Arts Gowanus in January 2019. "I love everything about Gowanus," he said. "The creative community and how well everyone collaborates and connects. I feel like it’s a scene that I always dreamed about when I moved to New York to be an artist. I always want to have really interesting artist friends and I want a community, and Gowanus has that.... I do love it. I hope that shows."
Sophisticated Mess
Established Gallery, 75 6th Avenue, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
On view December 14 through January 13
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