Apartment on Cardboard

2000 - Painting (Painting)

Chris Johanson

location: Los Angeles, California
year born: 1968
gender: male
nationality: American
home town: San Jose, California

Apartment on Cardboard (2000) is an exterior view of an abstracted apartment building. Viewers unwittingly become voyeurs, peering through the rectangles that stand for windows and observing the residents therein, who ponder questions both mundane and existential: “Where is Ron now?” and “What have I become?” The queries and characters are treated democratically—not judged, praised, or subjected to hierarchy. While their thoughts are specific, the painting captures a universal urban activity: looking across to the building next door and wondering about its residents, all the while knowing that they have probably looked over and wondered about us, as well.


The prolific Chris Johanson produces paintings, zines, installations, and sculptures that are notable for their earnest, almost childlike abstraction. His work delves unabashedly into the emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of human nature, tracking points of commonality and difference using simple shapes and lines as well as an unflagging sense of magnanimous humor.


Colors:



Related works sharing similar palette

In the studio: Peter Barber RA
© » ROYAL ACADEMY

In the studio: Peter Barber RA | Blog | Royal Academy of Arts Peter Barber RA © Morley von Sternberg FRIBA In the studio: Peter Barber RA Read more Become a Friend In the studio: Peter Barber RA By Sarah Handelman Published 27 July 2023 The architect renowned for his social housing projects operates from a converted 19th-century shop in King’s Cross...

Weekly Picks: Indonesia (23 – 29 July 2018)
© » ARTS EQUATOR

Weekly Picks: Indonesia (23 - 29 July 2018) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Indonesia July 23, 2018 Top Picks of Indonesia art events in Bali, Bromo, Solo and Jakarta from 23-29 July 2018 In Bali, Uma Seminyak is exhibiting Dolanan , an art show by 4 artists that highlights the world of imagination...

How Paño Arte Becomes Artepaño
© » HYPERALLERGIC

How Paño Arte Becomes Artepaño Skip to content Unidentified artist, “SanAnto” (date unknown), ink on cotton, 15 x 15 inches (all photos by Reno Leplat-Torti, courtesy the Reno-Leplat-Torti Collection) If paño arte is the private-facing practice of artists serving time in penitentiaries across the United States, then artepaño encompasses the afterlife of the artifact...

He Museum Another Private Museum in China to Open in March 2020 - via South China Morning Post
© » LARRY'S LIST

Opening in March 2020, Shunde’s He Art Museum hopes that it has what it takes to attract an audience....

Jatinder Singh Durhailay Reimagines Indian Miniature Painting for Modern Times
© » SOMETHING CURATED

Jatinder Singh Durhailay Reimagines Indian Miniature Painting for Modern Times - Something Curated Share this: Facebook Twitter Tumblr Features Interviews Profiles Guides Jobs Interviews - 8 Dec 2023 - Share British artist Jatinder Singh Durhailay ’s mesmerising works re-envision Indian miniature painting, in particular drawing reference from paintings produced during the Mughal Empire...

Jet Folder & Data Tree
© » KADIST

Lin Ke

2013

Jet Folder & Data Tree (2013) offers a humorous take on how computer and screen-based technologies affect our relationship to the natural world...

Valentin Guillon — Hors-jeu
© » SLASH PARIS

Valentin Guillon — Hors-jeu — Les églises centre d'art de Chelles — Exhibition — Slash Paris Login Newsletter Twitter Facebook Valentin Guillon — Hors-jeu — Les églises centre d'art de Chelles — Exhibition — Slash Paris English Français Home Events Artists Venues Magazine Videos Back Previous Next Valentin Guillon — Hors-jeu Exhibition Installation, mixed media Valentin Guillon, © Valentin Guillon Valentin Guillon Hors-jeu Ends in 2 months: February 3 → April 14, 2024 Après deux propositions en regard et en dialogue direct avec les Eglises, le troisième volet de cette saison s’intitule « Hors-jeu »...

Exercise in Reproduction of Failure #4
© » KADIST

Baktash Sarang Javanbakht

2014

The series refers to the militarization in Iran and surrounding countries and criticizes it by naming it reproduction of failure...

The Aesthetics Of Critique: An Act Of Creation
© » ARTS EQUATOR

The Aesthetics Of Critique: An Act Of Creation | ArtsEquator Skip to content Rebecca G dissects the art of critiquing and the expansion of critical perspectives in the arts criticism...

NFT Collector and Artist Gary Sumner Sees Potential in the NFT Space - via Crypto News
© » LARRY'S LIST

NFT Collector and Artist Gary Sumner Sees Potential in the NFT Space Cryptonews News NFT Collector and Artist Gary Sumner Sees Potential in the NFT Space 03 Jun 2022 · 2 min read NFT Collector and Artist Gary Sumner Sees Potential in the NFT Space Disclaimer: The text below is a press release that was not written by Cryptonews.com...

George Town marks UNESCO anniversary amid debate (via Nikkei Asian Review)
© » ARTS EQUATOR

George Town marks UNESCO anniversary amid debate (via Nikkei Asian Review) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Radar June 29, 2018 GEORGE TOWN, Malaysia — On any given weekend, a 15-meter-long queue of international tourists materializes at the upper corner of Armenian Street, an atmospheric road packed with tourist shops and cafes at the heart of George Town, capital of Malaysia’s Penang State...

Damien Hirst Just Burned Millions of Dollars Worth of His Art in Front of Gleeful Onlookers
© » LARRY'S LIST

For “The Currency,” Damien Hirst’s debut NFT project, the artist invited collectors to make a $2,000 wager on the value of his art....

Jenny Xie Interviewed by Jen Lue
© » BOMB

BOMB Magazine | Jenny Xie Interviewed Necessary (Required) Cookies that the site cannot function properly without...

Silencer #16 & #17
© » KADIST

Will Rogan

2010

MUM , the acronym used to title a series of Rogan’s small interventions on found magazines, stands for “Magic Unity Might,” the name of a vintage trade magic publication...

On Struggling to Remain Present When You Want to Disappear
© » KADIST

Cao Fei, Anthony Discenza, Harun Farocki, Tobias Fike and Matthew Harris, Forensic Architecture, Adelita Husni-Bey, Binelde Hyrcan, Yung Jake, Jazmín López, Rachel Rose, Bunny Rogers, Pavel Wolberg, and John Wood and Paul Harrison Often played by children and teenagers, the protagonists on view in On Struggling to Remain Present When You Want to Disappear take active part in physical or symbolic conflicts as they create alternative personalities, forge online relationships, or navigate across constructed environments...

12 Artist-Designed Rugs Under $500 That Will Elevate Your Home Decor
© » HUFFINGTON POST

Check out these gallery-worthy options from artists including Jonathan Adler, Justina Blakeney and Keith Haring....

How an opera about Harpo Marx introducing Marmite modernist composer Arnold Schoenberg to Hollywood producer Irving Thalberg went down in Shenzhen, China
© » SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

How an opera about Harpo Marx introducing Marmite modernist composer Arnold Schoenberg to Hollywood producer Irving Thalberg went down in Shenzhen, China...

10 Things You Should Know About: Sepak Takraw
© » ARTS EQUATOR

10 Things You Should Know About: Sepak Takraw | ArtsEquator Skip to content In the latest episode of our popular 10 Things You Should Know series, we share facts about the Sepak Takraw...

Sometimes It Was Beautiful
© » KADIST

Christian Nyampeta

2018

The film Sometimes It Was Beautiful by Christian Nyampeta poetically addresses the systemic conditions leading and emerging from the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which had lasting and profound effects on Rwanda and neighbouring countries like Congo...