ABOUT JENI JOHNSON
Jeni Johnson (1980) is a British contemporary painter who draws directly from her imagination and memory to depict imagery suggestive of a psychological inner landscape. Johnson’s paintings are characterised by a biomorphic style that oscillates between abstraction and figuration.
She holds a Masters in Fine Art (MA) and a Post Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCLTHE) from Kingston University. She was awarded a bursary from the Cypriot Ministry of Culture to study at the Cyprus College of Art for a year after completing a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art (BA).
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Johnson's recent work is interested in the research of ancient matriarchal cultures from pre-history, and the signs and symbols associated with these times. Ceramic pieces representing ancient relics of past are combined with gestural painting marks. Both sit together within the painting structure as if engaged in a dance of opposites. ​​
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WORKSHOPS AND TEACHING
2021 Drawing with Clay, Folkestone Triennial, UK
2020-2021 'We've got creative arts in the bag' Wadhurst Culture
2020 Channel Marker People, Plinth Project, Creative Foundation, Folkestone
2020 Object/Self Portrait workshop for Block 67, Creative Quarter, Folkestone
2019 DO/LISTEN, PEER Gallery, Hoxton, Art Licks
2019 Assistant for Common Clay, Focus on Hanley, Ceramics Biennial, Stoke on Trent
2019 ArtLab, Wadhurst Primary School
2017 PAINTING ARCHITECTURAL, Block 67, Folkestone Triennial, UK
2016 MY EAST END, Printmaking workshop at George Green School, for SEN working with Stitches in Time, Isle of Dogs, London, UK
2016 NEON- Folkestone's Young Creatives, The Quarterhouse, Folkestone, UK
2015 THE BIG DRAW, London, UK
2015 Artist Talk, Chichester University, UK
2014 Artist Talk, Black Mountain College, Kingston University, UK
2012 Artist Talk, Havelock Walk, London, UK
2010 EDGES, painting workshop, Grow Mayow community gardens, London, UK
EXHIBITIONS
​​Selected exhibitions:
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2024 MOTHERHOOD IS CONTEMPORARY, three person show, Fitzrovia Gallery, London, UK
2024 Seeing Red, CAS OPEN, Chapel Arts, Andover, selected by Jackie Sarafopoulos
2024 Gate of Entrancement, Electro Studio’s project space, St Leonards-on-sea, UK, curated by Jeni Johnson
​2024 A Room of One’s Own, Irving Gallery, Oxford, March, selected by Vanessa Lacey
2022 A ROOM OF HER OWN, Irving Contemporary, Oxford
2022 Subsuming, Espacio gallery, Bethnal Green, London
2021 DISRUPTING THE DELICATE, Janet Rady Fine Art, London
2020 Gathering Container, Flatlands Projects, Hastings
​2019 Common Ware, PEER Gallery for ArtLicks festival, London
​2019 Travellers, H_Contemporary, Korea
2019 Here Now Beautiful Chaos, Dulwich Arts Festival, London
2018 Future Heroine, Raw Labs, East London,
2018 SOLO, When you don't go out in the woods nothing will ever happen and your life will never begin, Sassoon Gallery, Folkestone
2018 Recollective, Brew, Folkestone
2017 BRINK, Brew, Folkestone, curated by Karen Pamplin Browne
2017 Folkestone is an Art School, Folkestone Triennial, selected by Bob and Roberta Smith
2016 FIRST SOLO SHOW, What Is You, Brew, Folkestone, UK, selected by Karen Pamplin Browne
2016 Treiste and the meaning of Nowhere, Four Corners Gallery, Bethnal Green,UK
2015 Chalk, The Towner Gallery, Eastbourne, UK
2015 Unofficial Parade, MART Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
2015 Her Folds in Pouches, Jeni Johnson & Jenna Lee, Brockwell Park, London, UK
2016 Re-POSE, ElevenFifteen Gallery, Folkestone, UK
2014 Pony, Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston-upon-Thames, London UK
2013 Isolate Source Before Discontecting, Platform Gallery, MA GRADUATION SHOW, Kingston, UK
2013 Edges, Sydenham Arts Festival, London UK
2012 Making Visable, The Stables, London UK
2010 To be or not to be- a false dichotomy, Shoreditch Town Hall, UK, Curated by Dunia Mauro
2009 Loveart, Smithfields Gallery, London, UK
2009 The Summer Exhibtion, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK selected for the exhibition and catalogue by Bill Woodrow RA
2007 The Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK, selected by Basil Beattie RA
2007 The Islington Art and Design Fair, London, UK
2007 Beyond the Sprawl, Octopad Arts, Royal Arsenal, London UK
2007 First Inaugural Art Exhibition by four local women artists, Camberwell, UK
2007 Made in a Snow Covered Garden, Ox Market, Chichester UK
2006 Zest, Brighton Festival Fringe, Brighton UK
2005 Dual Purpose, House of Art and Literature, Paphos, Cyprus
2005 9.0 Art Relief, En Plo Gallery, Kato Paphos, Cyprus
2005 Unclaimed Luggage, Circulo De Bellas Artes, Madrid
2004 Fresh Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington London UK
2003 Graduation Show, Chichester University, Chichester UK
PRIZES/AWARDS/
BURSARIES
2014 Awarded status of Fellow by the Higher Education Academy (HEA)
2014 Awarded Post Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCLTHE) Kingston University
2004 Awarded a bursary by the Cypriot Ministry of culture to study in Cyprus
EDUCATION
2014-2015 Kingston University MA Fine Art
2014-2015 Postgraduate certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCLTHE)
2005-2006 Cyprus College of Art, Postgraduate Diploma
2000-2003 Chichester University, BA Fine Art
1998-1999 Hastings College of Art and Design, Art Foundation
PUBLICATIONS
2014 Flat White Machine, X Marks the Boxship, London UK
2014 PonyBOX, Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston- upon- Thames, UK
2007 Royal Academy Illustrated, edited by Bill Woodrow RA
PRESS
2010 ‘In London, Art Out in the Open’ Valerie Gladstone, NYTIMES
https://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/in-london-art-out-in-the-open/
2008 ‘Art and architecture’ Jessica Bomford, Living South UK
2009 ‘No More Nine to Five’ Matt Munday, The Sunday Times,
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/no-more-nine-to-five-kjth3vgsjv0
2003 Down to a fine art, Phill Hewitt, The Magazine