Untitled, Ref. Kanazawa 1 (09.05.18), 2018 by Alan Johnston

This work is part of a group of paintings conceived for a series of exhibitions which were organised by curator and writer Naoko Nabon, which were held in multiple smaller regional Museums and Project Spaces in different configurations across Japan from 2016 to 2020. Johnston, who has been travelling and exhibiting in Japan since the 1980s, references Patrick Geddes ‘Philosophical Generalisms' and notions of the ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ throughout his oeuvre. This suite of works perfectly illustrates a comparative context that has its roots in the practice of art, architecture, and visual thinking in the West and the East, and it relates to concepts and practices such as Wabi-Sabi.