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Kysa Johnson
Macro/Microscapes
- May 20, June 17 & July 15
Keck Center of the National Academies
500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC
- September 7 – December 6, 2004
National Academy of Sciences
entrance at 2100 C Street, NW
- Artist’s Reception:
November 14, 2004, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
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blow up 35: subatomic decay patterns (detail)
(click image to enlarge)
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Kysa Johnson’s work draws from a visual vocabulary made possible by technologies that allow us to visualize the microscopic and macroscopic world around and within us.
Inspired by images that might be found in science textbooks, the artist takes images and symbols often associated with the teaching of science, engineering as well as medicine and places them within the context of fine art. By doing so, Johnson draws a comparison between the elegance of the original patterns found in scientific models and those of human mark making. Large paintings that resemble chalkboards challenge our sense of scale, allowing us to consider the beauty of the microscapes and macroscapes that surround us constantly but are beyond our visual perception.
This exhibition of Kysa Johnson’s paintings is comprised of three conceptual bodies of work relating to engineering, science, and medicine. One group offers a microscopic perception of everyday building materials. Another group contains representations of subatomic decay patterns juxtaposed against depictions of the known universe. In the third group of paintings, microscopic views of diseases are presented against that of a cure.
Kysa Johnson lives and works in New York. In 2000, Kysa Johnson was commissioned to produce a permanent installation of six paintings for the concourse level of the Empire State Building.
Directions to the National Academy of Sciences
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