James Johnston (born 1966) is also known as a musician with Gallon Drunk, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds as well as PJ Harvey, and has established himself as a painter in recent years. His first paintings were created on tour in hotel rooms; today, he works daily in his studio.
His paintings are figurative, raw, and expressive: bold colors, loose structures, and scenes full of mythic intensity characterize his visual language. Animals, nature, and solitary figures appear as mirrors of the human condition.
Nick Cave describes his works as „paintings full of mythic power.“
Johnston’s paintings are not a counterpoint to music, but rather an expression of the same immediate energy and archaic power.