Brett Allen Johnson Harnesses the Glow of the American Southwest in Dreamy Oil Paintings

"As though seared into our collective consciousness, some images of the American Southwest seem to fully embody its inhospitable terrain, mercurial weather, and intense, challenging beauty. One of these would most certainly be Edward Curtis' dramatic 1904 photograph of the sacred Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "deh-shay") in Arizona, featuring a string of Navajo riders on horseback, silhouetted against towering rock formations behind them."

"Both a record of the Indigenous inhabitants who called this land home for centuries, taken 40 years after the forced march known as the Long Walk, the photo is also a testament to a quickly evolving nation. And the drama of the region's canyons, ridges, mountains, buttes, and mesas continue to enthrall us today. For Brett Allen Johnson, these timeless, arid landscapes inspire glowing oil paintings that draw upon the legacies of Western painters like Maynard Dixon and Georgia O'Keeffe."

Edward Curtis' 1904 photograph of Canyon de Chelly presents Navajo riders silhouetted against towering rock formations, evoking the region's harsh terrain, changing weather, and compelling beauty. The image serves as both a record of Indigenous inhabitants after the Long Walk and as a marker of a rapidly evolving nation. Brett Allen Johnson draws on these arid landscapes to create glowing oil paintings influenced by Western painters such as Maynard Dixon and Georgia O'Keeffe. Johnson's work simplifies and smooths forms, gives clouds dense weight, and uses light, shadow, and hue to reveal fleshy folds and mineralized patterns in rock and sky.

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