Robert Johnson’s The Power Of Line, The ArtSpace, York, September 10 to 20 (From York Press)

Robert Johnson’s The Power Of Line, The ArtSpace, York, September 10 to 20

3:17pm Thursday 2nd September 2010 in

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Like buses, exhibitions at The ArtSpace in York are arriving in twos next week.

As soon as Jamie Barbor’s three-day show, Monoprints, Drypoints and Drawings, leaves the Tower Street gallery on Thursday night, there will be a quick turnover for next Friday’s opening of Robert Johnson’s The Power Of Line.

The show is so called to reflect his emphasis on drawing. “An interest in light and shade is the unifying subject that runs throughout my practice,” says Robert. “Although I also work in colour in such mediums as oil and acrylic paint, I find myself naturally drawn to black and white and the dramatic effects of light and dark.”

Whilst studying for his degree in fine art at Lancaster University, he became interested in pushing the medium of drawing as far as he could. “I felt that such an ancient, fundamental and low-tech art form as drawing with pencil or charcoal on paper still had validity in our age of mass media, computers and digital imagery,” says Robert.

“I also felt that such a traditional medium still had validity in the context of contemporary fine art practice, where all things conceptual seemed to be the order of the day.”

The landscape works in his exhibition are not prints or etchings, but done on Scraperboard. “You may have used it in your school art classes,” he says. “Scraperboard starts life completely black and then you scrape into its surface with a sharp implement to reveal white underneath; it is in effect the normal drawing process in reverse.

“Careful attention has to be paid to what is scraped away as, unlike drawing with a pencil, mistakes cannot be rubbed out – and if you’re interested in seeing how one of these pieces is made, please go to www.youtube.com/robartjohnson.”

Look out for Robert’s work entitled Swaledale. “Over the course of the 30 or so hours that Swaledale took to create, I snapped a photograph of its progress every five minutes and then created a two-minute animation of the results. Enjoy!” he says.

Like Jamie Barbor, Robert teaches life drawing at The ArtSpace. “We’ve exhibited Robert’s work in previous group shows, especially our New Blood series, and he sold very well,” says gallery co-owner Greg McGee. “We thought that the time was right for a solo show, for no other reason than we agree absolutely with him: drawing, with all of its accompanying skill, patience and showmanship, has been given a back seat in favour of ‘the big idea’.

“When you’re faced with an approach that is so full of love for the process, where the draughtsmanship eclipses all other concerns such as radical edginess, you can’t help but think that this deserves as much exposure as possible.

“The funny thing is, when you’re in front of his work on the wall, it reminds you that excellent drawing is just as valid, just as sparky as anything else that glitters briefly in the world of contemporary art. So we’re very excited about what is more of an Art Unplugged show for us. This is drawing stripped of all conceit, and it stands just as high as anything else we’ve shown.”

The Power Of Line will be on display at The ArtSpace from next Friday to September 20.