Meet Darren Johnson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Darren Johnson.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I grew up in a small town in RI. Art, music and skateboarding were the mainstays of my life as a kid. In my early twenties I worked for Liquid Blue for a few years and I learned to screen print t-shirts. It was the best thing that could have happened to me.

I worked with so many great people who really helped me master the medium, since then I have never stopped screen printing. Around 2000 I really began diving into rock posters and promoting local music in the Providence and Boston areas. I was fortunate to work with so many awesome bands and venues through the years, and although things have slowed down, I still make posters for local and touring bands. All hand printed by me, in my studio. In the past couple years, I have been making more singular pieces and mixing mediums such as spray paint, acrylic paint, using fabrics and playing with metallics and overlays. It’s been really fun discovering new ways to make stuff. I was so stoked to part of ARTSE with Victor Quinonez, he is an inspiring friend and it was an honor to participate in such an awesome event.

Please tell us about your art.
As I said my medium has been screen printing for more than 20 years. For a very long time the idea of making posters for bands was my absolute favorite way to come up with concepts and ideas. I like walking the line between sound and vision, it’s so much fun to match images, colors and visual composition to compliment music. A poster is a great vehicle to convey meaning and feeling, and it sometimes only takes a couple of seconds. Some of the art I’ve been doing the last few years has been centered around storytelling, and making many pieces that all relate as one. Mythology and the journey of the human spirit have been the main story around the past dozen pieces or so that I’ve made. My hope is that people look into the narrative and try to find connections to themselves, to others, to the universe, or whatever make sense to the individual.

Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
Oh boy…. personally, I am absolutely affected by the state of things, the way that I think about art, and the way that I make art. I choose not to make directly politically content based art, but all of the work in my Myth series explores power, gender, oppression, and the historical cycles of humankind. I think the role of an artist is difficult to define. Art as a form, has expanded so greatly in the last 50 or 60 years it reaches so many more people, especially since with advent of social media. I strongly believe that the first place to start making changes is within your own community, so local art events are crucial in bringing people together. It’s so important to talk with one another and educate, learn and just become more aware of the world around us.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
Currently I am working on a few new pieces for my new studio opening. I am in the middle of moving into a new space, and hope to have an opening in the next month (or two).

Contact Info:

• Address: 115 Blaisdell Ave Pawtucket RI 02860
• Website: https://cargocollective.com/leloupfamily
• Phone: 4012639697
• Email: zenarcade88@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zenarcade88/?hl=en

Image Credit:
Darren Johnson

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