Alan Johnston
Born in Edinburgh, UK, 1945
Lives and works in Edinburgh, UK
Education
1972-73Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf, Germany
1969-72Royal College of Art, London, UK
1964-69Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, UK
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022Beyond The Flow, Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, UK
2017Retrospective II, Bartha Contemporary, London, UK
2017Retrospective I, Art Cologne with Bartha Contemporary, Cologne, Germany
2016Invisible Lines, Safn, Berlin, Germany
2015Alan Johnston, H-I-C-A, Inverness-shire, Scotland, UK
2015SAFN, Berlin, Germany Mies van der Rohe Haus, Berlin, Germany
2013Bartha Contemporary, London, UK
2013UK Wall Drawing, Tate Britain, London, UK
2012Drawing A Shadow: No Object. Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, UK
2011Spazio attivo ovvero struttura: Renata Fabbri Contemporary Art, Milano, Italy
2010Drawing House of Art. Budejovice, Czech Republic
2010Drawing A Shadow: No Object. Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, UK
2009Wall Drawing Peloton, Sydney Australia
2008Wall Drawing U8, Nagoya, Japan Tanizaki's Mountains. Concept Space. Gunma, Japan
2007Encased A.P.U.F.A.M. Museum, Aichi, Japan
2007Shadow Without Object, NSA Gallery, Hiroshima, Japan
2007Wall drawing, New Bedford Art Museum. New Bedford, USA
2006Drawing' Slewe Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2006To the last drop, Sleeper. With Douglas Gordon. An edition. Edinburgh, UK
2005Cairn Gallery Pittenweem Fife, Scotland, UK
2005Wall Drawing. Curated Space. Eiji Watanabe, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
2004Arts Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory, Tbilisi, Georgia Shadow without Object. Selected Art Models, Kunsthistorische Arbeitsblätter, Cologne, Germany. Curated by Anne-Marie Bonnet
2003Galerie Rivolta, Geneva, Switzerland
2002Mies Houston Johnston Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Texas, USA
2002The Cairn Gallery, Nailsworth, UK
2002Hagi IFF Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA
2001Wall drawings, Bei Ulrich Rückriem. Halle, Clonegal, Ireland
2001Wall drawings, The Arts Interdisciplinary Research and Development Laboratory, Tbilisi, Georgia
2000Asymmetric Cube, Oxy Gallery, Prefectural Centre for Contemporary, Osaka, Japan (Supported by The British Council)
1999Formless: Wall drawing' Old Gallery Erckle II Street, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia
1999Northern Mirror Bury Museum, Bury, Greater Manchester, UK. Exhibition and installation
1999Two Cubes, I.A.V.A Akiyoshidai International Contemporary Art and Architecture Academy. An Architectural Collaboration with Shinichi Ogawa, Akiyoshidai, Japan
1999Windows Basel: Walls Riehen. Diener & Diener. I.A.A.B. Basel, Riehen, Switzerland
1998The Norwich Gallery, N.S.A.D. Norwich Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, USA
1997Gallery Gangurinn, Reykjavik, Iceland
1996The Lisson Gallery, London, UK (Audio Publication, Audio Arts, Vol.16, No. 2.)
1995Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden, The Edinburgh International Festival Customs House, South Shields, UK
1994Jack Tilton Gallery, NYC, USA Haus Wittgenstein, Vienna, Austria
1993Shimada Gallery, Yamaguchi, Japan The 2nd Floor Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland
1992Transmission Gallery, Glasgow. Curated by Douglas Gordon Shimada Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1992Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, USA
1992Galerie Kunst und Raum, Hannover, Germany
1990Jack Tilton Gallery, NYC, USA Forum, Düsseldorf, Germany
1989Shimada Gallery, Yamaguchi, Japan
1989Bernard Jordan Gallery, Paris, France
1988The Orchard Gallery, Derry, Northern Ireland
1988The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1988The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
1988The Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol, UK
1988Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, USA
1987Shimada Gallery, Yamaguchi, Japan
1987Pier Art Centre, Stromness, Scotland, UK
1987Gangurinn Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland
1986Paul Steen Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1986Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, USA
1986Gallery Cora Hölzl, Düsseldorf, Germany
1985De Zaak Gallery, Groningen, Netherlands
1984Shimada Gallery, Yamaguchi, Japan
1983Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, USA
1983Graeme Murray Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1980John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
1979Graeme Murray Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1978Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, UK
1977Graeme Murray Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1976Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London, UK
1975Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London, UK
1974Von Der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal, Germany
1973Bei Konrad Fischer, Düsseldorf, Germany
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019Beneath The Surface, City Art Centre, Edinburgh, UK
2018In Praise of Shadows, Wagon at Suisei Art, Kanazawa, Japan
2018Alan Johnston with Sebastian Dannenberg, Raum X, London, UK
2017Three British Artists in Their 70s, Freshwindow Gallery with Bartha Contemporary, New York, USA
2016I Still Believe in Miracles, Inverleith House, Edinburgh, UK
2013Hamish Morrison, Schwarz // Weiss. Berlin, Germany
2013Weissenstadt, Zu Gast bei einem imagaeren kunstsammler. Das Kleine Museum, Hannover, Germany (curated by Niklas von Bartha)
2012A Parliament of Lines, CAC Edinburgh, UK. Including Charles Avery, Paul Chiappe, Layla Curtis, Nathalie De Briey, Moyna Flanagan, Luca Frei, Euan Gray, Sam Griffin, Marie Harnett, Callum Innes, Andrew MacKenzie, David Shrigley, Graeme Todd, Ainslie Yule
2011Faster and Slower Lines - From the Collection of Pétur Arason and Ragna Róbertsdóttir, The Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland. Curated by Birta Gudjondottir and Petur Arason. Including Ingolfur Arnarsson, Birgir Andresson, Stanley Brouwn, Helmut Federle, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Roni Horn, Kristjan Gudmundsson, Donald Judd, Richard Long, Dieter Rot, Karin Sander, Lawrence Weiner Presente Futuro, Bordarier, Renata Fabbri arte contemporanea, Milano, IT. Including McLune, Radi, Sartorio, Shanahan, Thurston
2010IFF, Marseilles, FR. curated by Gavin Morrison. Including Douglas Gordon, Sean Shanahan, Fraser Stables
2009Tactile Vision, Slewe Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Curated and participated group exhibition including Roger Ackling, David Connearn, Yoko Terauchi, Thomas Clark, Andreas Karl Schulze, Eiji Watanabe, Taka Iwasaki, Ragna Robertsdottir, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Takaya Fujii, Thomas Struth, Hideo Shimada, Richard Tuttle, Adam Barker-Mill, On Kawara, Tom Benson, Takashi Suzuki, John McLaughlin, Atsuo Hukuda, Kenzo Onada, Shinichi Ogawa, Yasuko Otsuka, Masayuki Yasuhara
2009SNO Contemporary Art Projects. 48, Sydney, Australia. Curated by Richard Dunn. Including Mark Brown, Richard Dunn, Marita Fraser, Manya Ginori, Alex Lawler, Adrian McDonald, Ragna Robertsdottir, TsongEng Tan
2009Central Periphery, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia. Publication. 'Central Periphery', text Richard Dunn Landworkers. VRC, Dundee, Scotland, UK
200810 Decades. ECA 100 Hundred Years, Fleming Collection London, UK
2008The Irony of Flatness, Bury Museum, Bury, Manchester, UK
2008Eigenheer, Sander, Gudmundsson, Gec, Ruckriem, Grenier, Goodyear, Reeve Arte Contemporanea e Manufatti, Uno Spazio su Misura, Milano, IT. Including Je Barnes, Ruper Eder, Rolf Hegetusch, Franco Napoli, Lucio Pozzi, Ivo Ringe, Alessandra Rossignoli, Sean Shanahan, Franco Tripodi, Caterina von Weiss
2007Crystal Grey, Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. With Ragna Robertsdottir, Sean Shanahan. Crystal Grey, Safn. Alan Johnston, Ragna Robertsdottir, Sean Shanahan
2007The Secret Theory of Drawing, The Drawing Room, London, UK
2007Niland Gallery Model Arts Sligo Ireland. Including David Austen, Trisha Donnelly, Olafur Elliasson, Ceal Floyer, Ellen Gallagher, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Douglas Gordon, Patrick Ireland, Alan Johnston, John Latham, Mark Manders, Matt Mullican, Anri Sala, Bojan Šarčević, Joelle Tuerlinckx, Cathy Wilkes Cynosure, Pier Arts Centre. Stromness, Orkney. Ian Hamilton Finlay, Ragna Robertsdottir, Olafur Elliasson, Richard Long, Ross Sinclair, Christine Borland, Douglas Gordon, Lesley Foxcroft, Lawrence Weiner
2007IRRATIONAL THOUGHTS. In Memory of Sol Le Witt. "Irrational thoughts should be followed absolutely and logically"- Sol Le Witt, Lolly Batty, David Bellingham, Pavel Buchler, Thomas A Clark, David Connearn, Kenneth Dingwall, Alec Finlay, Alan Johnston, Jonathan Monk, Bernardo Ortiz, Adrian Piper, John Shankie, Lawrence Weiner, Ian Whittlesea. Cairn Gallery, Pittenweem, UK
2007Hiroshima Document, Hiroshima. Hiroshima Ginko. Curated by Yukiko Ito. Including Adam Vackar, Andre Stitt, Akiko Numajiri, Christian Merlhiot
200710 Decades. ECA 100 Hundred Years City Art Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
2007Just Print, Peacock Visual Arts. Aberdeen, Scotland. Including Delia Baillie, David Blyth, Dalziel + Scullion, Fiona Hepburn, Kenny Hunter, Alan Johnston, Annette Korstanje, David McCracken, Rosalind Nashashibi, Ragna Robertsdottir, Sean Shanahan, Michael Visocchi, Frances Walker
2006Safn, Reykjavik, Iceland. With Karin Sander. Including Artists from the Safn Collection as participants
2005Exposed-Contemporary Art from the City's Collection, City Art Centre Edinburgh, Sctoland, UK
2005Celebrate, Jack Tilton Gallery. NYC, USA. Including Rickrit Tiravanija, Nancy Spero, Kiki Smith, Ernst Caramelle, Fabrice Hybert, Douglas Gordon, David Hammons, Marlene Dumas, Francis Alys, Wim Delvoye, Fred Tomaselli
2005Kaleidoscope, Osaka Centre for Contemporary Art. Osaka, Japan. Including Franz Graf, Douglas Gordon, David Williams, Richard Wright, Adam Barker-Mill, Thomas Struth, Takashi Suzuki, Norman Shaw, Ragna Robertsdottir, Olafur Elliasson, Richard Tuttle, Sean Shanahan. Co–curated with Kaoru Matsumoto
2005Learning is Understanding in Practice, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. Including James Hugonin, Arthur Watson, Simon Unwin, David Nash, Ray Lucas
2005Evergreen, Inverleith House, RBGE, Edinburgh, UK. Curated by Paul Nesbitt. Including, Carl Andre, Cy Twombly, Lawrence Weiner, Thomas Struth, Franz West, Douglas Gordon, Rory McEwan, Richard Wright, Agnes Martin, Ruth Vollmer
2005Per La Musica, Encounter in the Earth of Siena, Casteluccio. Curated by Peter Moser. Including, Michael Biberstein, Mark Staff Brandl, Thomas Clark, Kenneth Dingwall, Janis Kounellis, Bernhard Lüthi, Beverly Pepper, Not Vital, Beat Zoderer
2004The Director's Chair, Open Eye Gallery. Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
2004Künstlerbücher, With Auberger, Chillida, Partenheimer, Schütte, Schwegler, Galerie Ute Parduhn. Düsseldorf, Germany
2004Black Mirror, Otagi Nenbutsu-Ji Kyoto, Japan. Temple Project
2003Safn Museum, Reykjavik. Iceland. Including Ackling, Andre, Arnarsson, Buren, Charlton, Elliasson, Gudmundsson, Graf, Long, Robertsdottir, Rockenschaub, Tuttle, Umberg, Uglow, Weiner, etc.
2002The Collections, Pier Art Centre, Stromness, Orkney, Scotland
2002Pause. Gwangju Biennale 2002, Gwangju, South Korea
2002Drawing on Space, FA Projects, London, UK
2002The Drawing Room. City Art Centre, Travelling Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
2002Drawing on Space, Project, Dublin, Ireland
2002Drawn Together, Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery, Bury St Edmunds, UK
2002Fifty Years of Supporting The New, The Aldrich Museum. Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA. Including Reinhardt, Antoni, Finch, Tomaselli
2002For the Love of Abstraction, Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, USA
2001It must be abstract it must change it must give pleasure, York City Art Gallery, York, UK. Curated by Greville Worthington. Including Alan Davie, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Alan Charlton, Richard Long
2000Made Space Pekao Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2000Expressions Scottish art 1976-1989, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
2000Arrata, Kopavagur Museum Reykjavik, Iceland. Curated by Petur Arason. Including Andre, Long, Judd, Charlton, Kawara etc.
2000Kopavagur Museum Reykjavik, Iceland
2000Expressions, Dundee Contemporary Art. Dundee, Scotland, UK
2000Corridor: 20 Years Municipal Museum of Art, Reykjavik, Iceland
2000Made Space, Changing Room Gallery, Stirling, Scotland, UK
2000Inter Collaboration, Shinichi Ogawa, Eelco Hooftman, Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum. Yamaguchi Intelligence, New British Art 2000, Tate Gallery, London, UK
2000Space + Art + Architecture. A Collaboration with Shinichi Ogawa, Hiroshima, Japan
199929 x 6h Dia Genese Art Foundation, Düsseldorf, Germany. Including Erben, Bourgeois, Klein
1999Locale, City Art Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. With Bevan, Innes, McCail, Carter, McMurdo
1999Flowers. Galerie Frontstore, Basel, Switzerland. With Sander, Visch, Droese, Kern Silver
1999Artspace, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
1999Connections, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh, UK
1999Dokument einer Diagalerie auf Zeit mit Beiträgen, Drei Zu Eins Verein für Kunst, Cologne, Germany Dokument einer Diagalerie auf Zeit mit Beiträgen, Onomato Gallery, (Klein, Baumgarten etc), Düsseldorf, Germany
1999Royal Society of the Arts Hackney Square Project, Exhibited: Cube Gallery, Manchester, UK
1998Ground Galerie Stadtpark, Krems an der Donau, Austria
1998Ground Municipal Art Museum, Akureyri, Iceland
1997Odyssey, The Whitney Museum, NYC, USA
1997Calanais, The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK
1997Ground, Pier Art Centre. Stromness. Orkney. With Franz Graf, Kristjan Gudmundsson
1997Peterburger Hängung Galerie Cora Hölzl, Düsseldorf. With Damisch, Heerich, Klein, Polke, Richter, Roth.
1996Calanais, The Talbot Rice Gallery, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1996Odyssey, Charles Carpenter Collection, The Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, USA
1996Contemporary British Art in Print, Macney Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas, USA
1996Galerie Cora Hölzl, Düsseldorf, Germany
1995Contemporary British Art in Print, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, UK
1995Contemporary British Art in Print, The Mellon Centre for British Art, Newhaven, USA
1995Calanais. An Lantair, Stornoway. Lewis Calanais, Faouedic, Lorient, France
1994Ten Years of the Cora Hölzl Gallery, Galerie Cora Hölzl, Düsseldorf, Germany
1994Given Space, Knut Pavilion, Southampton, UK
1993The Line of Tradition, The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
1993Abstract Painting, ECA, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1993Arts Council of Great Britain, The Collection, The Hayward Gallery. London, UK
199011 Cities Architectural Project, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
1990Between Dimensions, Curwen Gallery, London, UK
1989Kölner Kunst Markt, Cologne, Germany
1989Scottish Art, National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1989Scottish Art, Barbican Gallery, London, UK
1989The Corridor, Reykjavik, Iceland
1989Accrochage, Galerie Cora Hölzl, Düsseldorf, Germany
1989Third Eye Centre, Glasgow, UK
1988John Hansard Gallery, Southampton University, Southampton, UK
1988Skulpturen Republik, Kunstraum Wien im Messepalast, Vienna, Austria
1988John Hansard Gallery, Southampton University, Southampton, UK
1988The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
1987Synopsis Gallery, Cora Hölzl, Düsseldorf. With Arp, Beuys, Kowanz, Tuttle
1987Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, USA
1987De Zaak. Groningen, Netherlands
1986Von Dran Gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany
1986Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, USA
1985The Hayward Annual, Hayward Gallery, London, UK
1985Abstract Drawings and Sculpture, Shimada Gallery, Yamaguchi, Japan
1984Recent Acquisitions, The National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1983Four European Artists. S.K.F. Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia
1982Drawing, The Hayward Gallery, London, UK
1982The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1981Contemporary Art. Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1981The Orchard Gallery, Derry, Ireland
1980Scottish Arts Council Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1978Graeme Murray Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1976Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London, UK
1975Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London, UK
1973276 Miles From Here, Städtische Kunsthalle. Düsseldorf - Goethe Institute. London, UK
Selected Bibliography
2002'Mies Houston Johnston' Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Texas, USA (ISBN 978-0-9546156-2-8)
2002'Northern Mirror' Bury Museum, Bury, Greater Manchester, UK. Exhibition and installation. Website: www.northernmirror.com/ (ISBN 0-9538915-50)
2001'Wall drawings' Bei Ulrich Rückriem, 'Halle', Clonegal, Ireland (ISBN 1 904443 00 1)
2000'Asymmetric Cube', Oxy Gallery. Prefectural Centre for Contemporary Osaka (ISBN 0 9536025 3 2). Supported by The British Council
1996The Lisson Gallery, London, UK (Audio Publication, Audio Arts, Vol.16, No. 2.)
1994Haus Wittgenstein, Vienna, Austria (ISBN 1 872 291 32 5)
1993The 2nd Floor Gallery. Reykjavik
1989Shimada Gallery. Yamaguchi
1988The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, UK (ISBN 0 947912 11 8)
1988The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik Jack Tilton Gallery, New York
1988Third Eye Centre, Glasgow, UK
1988John Hansard Gallery, Southampton University, Southampton, UK
1988Skulpturen Republik, Kunstraum Wien im Messepalast, Vienna, Austria
1988John Hansard Gallery, Southampton University, Southampton, UK
1988The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik
1987Synopsis Gallery, Cora Hölzl, Düsseldorf. With Arp, Beuys, Kowanz, Tuttle
1987Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, USA
1987De Zaak. Groningen, Netherlands
1986Von Dran Gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany
1986Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, USA
1985The Hayward Annual, Hayward Gallery, London, UK
1985Abstract Drawings and Sculpture, Shimada Gallery, Yamaguchi, Japan
1984Recent Acquisitions, The National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1983Four European Artists. S.K.F. Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia
1982Drawing, The Hayward Gallery, London, UK
1982The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1981Contemporary Art. Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1981The Orchard Gallery, Derry, Ireland
1980Scottish Arts Council Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1978Graeme Murray Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
1976Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London, UK
1975Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London, UK
1973276 Miles From Here, Städtische Kunsthalle. Düsseldorf - Goethe Institute. London, UK