In the studio: Alan Johnston, artist
'I was extending an ever-present engagement with the creation of shadow'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Alan Johnston works in a studio backing on to the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens. Its inhabitants have included British artist William Brassey Hole, best remembered for his large processional frieze in the Scottish National Gallery. "Hole designed the studio for himself. He had a thing for large paintings – large easel paintings. It is quite church-like. It is for height."
Johnston only moved in seven months ago and he has not fully unpacked. A few paintings in his rigorous, minimal style hang on the wall, made with his favoured materials – pencil and beeswax.
Tate Britain director Penelope Curtis recently commissioned Johnston to make a work for the refurbished Tate Britain. Tasked with choosing a site, he opted for the ceiling in architect Bruno Taut's vaulted space in the basement. "Taut's big thing was crystalline form, alpine form. One space that is interesting is the cellar with the strange, almost medieval vaults."
Johnston's team worked alongside the construction workers; it took five weeks and 12 people to finish. Johnston prefers to work alone but there was not enough time. His tools included a clutch pencil with a hard lead to deal with the ceiling material. He relates how he was in Budějovice in the Czech Republic and was told by the architect he was collaborating with that Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth, the pencil factory, was nearby; he asked if they could make him a special hard lead.
Johnston is not new to collaborating with architects. Many of his works, drawing-based and minimal in concept, are site-specific and made alongside partnering architects. His subtle interventions draw attention to architectural features, such as the spaces above in the case of Taut's ceiling: "I was extending and further developing an ever-present engagement with the creation of shadow."
Born in 1945 in Edinburgh, Johnston teaches at the University of Edinburgh. He is a softly spoken man who counts many of the world's great artists as friends. Facing his creations, I have been observing how light plays across the surfaces, illuminating areas of interest. A simple pencil-line drawn from one end wall to another recalls the horizon, and the work of other great minimal painters. Johnston's quiet intervention at Tate Britain may not be in your face but it will probably be the most harmonious, fulfilling his determination: "A quiet and appropriate dialogue of forms."
Alan Johnston, Bartha Contemporary, London W1 (barthacontemporary.com) to 15 February
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments