Origin of the Species

About the Work

In the painting titled Le dejeuner sur l’ herbe by Edouard Manet first exhibited at the Salon des Refuses in 1863, the nude female figure in the foreground is accompanied by two fully clothed male figures and looking straight at the viewer. Even today, nude figures in relation to clothing (either in the action of removing it, or in the company of other fully clothed figures) still incite controversy. In Origin of the Species, the artist himself is in the act of removing his clothes while in the process of defecating. To Johnson, it’s nothing more than a natural human gesture, but also represents a transition from a modern to a primitive man. The artist is in the middle of a primitive act, while wearing a nice suit. In the background another mammal, a dolphin (generally regarded for their intelligence) leaps over him. Which mamal is the more intelligent one ? Johnson makes work based on his own experiences and had spent time in the jungles of Peru. Pink dolphins live in the fresh waters there, and the pattern in the background references the patterns of the Shipebo people.

About the Artist

JEREMIAH JOHNSON was raised on a fruit and flower farm in North Central Pennsylvania. He received his BFA from Tyler School of Art of Temple University, and his MFA from Syracuse University. Johnson’s work is included in several collections both regionally and internationally including the State Museum of Pennsylvania, the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke Virginia and the Servais Family Collection in Brussels Belgium. Johnson currently manages a Makerspace at Nicholls State University, and works with his wife in their studio making art about culture, folklore, and survival.

There is a strong metaphorical quality to the combination of materials, images and installations where visual elements blend, then threaten to contradict each other, setting up a matrix that’s rich, personal, tense, restricting, and liberating all at once. This is what attracts me to mixed media. Every technique I use from found imagery, to printing, painting and cut vinyl has its own mark, its own voice, along with a cultural, conceptual and historical context. For me it is the blending and/or contrast of techniques that drives the work and makes it successful or not. My interests are varied and directly influenced by the schizophrenic nature of the internet. I am also inspired by both popular and regional culture, folklore and personal struggle.