Paul Johnson

"Drawing is really the crux of our creative life and it’s not about the skill of drawing, it’s the skill of seeing." - Paul Johnson (2011)

Paul Johnson was born and raised in Whanganui, Aotearoa New Zealand. He attended Elam School of Fine Art at the University of Auckland between 1967 and 1971 where he was taught by Colin McCahon. He worked as an art educator at secondary and tertiary level, holding a position as a tutor at the Whanganui Polytechnic between c.1984 and c.2000 as well as teaching in Japan, Malaysia, Canada and Europe.

In 1994 he collaborated on a significant exhibition at ArtSpace, Auckland, with Kura Te Waru-Rewiri. The show, titled 'Black and White', was described as a negotiation of biculturalism (Māori/European) through contemporary art. The show would be re-exhibited as 'Black and White: dealing with difference' at the CSA Gallery, Christchurch, in the same year, and at the Sarjeant Gallery in 1995.

In 2001 Johnson and his partner Gail Mason moved to Australia, settling in Queensland and working full time as a sculptors. They designed, fabricated and installed 60 public art projects throughout the country during their time there, including temporary light performances and installations and permanent works using a range of materials that extended beyond ceramics to include steel, aluminum, fiber-optic lighting and plexiglass. The duo exhibited as part of Sydney’s Vivid Festival and completed notable public works including Botanic Gardens Entry, Perth, WA, 2016; Solar Clock Tower, Charles Darwin University, NT, 2020; and Miner's Memorial, Wollongong, NSW, 2020.

Johnson maintained an interest in Whanganui, entering and winning a competitive commission in 2015 to produce a large public sculpture, 'Villa Rustica' with Gail, for Millennium Hill in the Bason Botanic Gardens.

Johnson and Mason moved back to Aotearoa New Zealand from Australia in 2023.

See also:

• List of Paul Johnson artworks held by the Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui
• T.J. McNamara, 'Works of weight and cool,' NZ Herald, Thursday July 14, 1994.
• Tessa Copland, ‘Calm dialogue as two artists examine genealogies’, The Press, Christchurch, 14 Dec 1994
• Suzanne MacAuley, ‘Timely exhibition at gallery’, Whanganui Chronicle, 10 Apr 1995
• Scott Kara, 'I’m walking in light', NZ Herald, 4 June 2011. p.Arts 19.
• Paul Johnson & Gail Mason, 'Villa Rustica,' (2015), Bason Botanic Gardens (Whanganui)