Brett Allen Johnson is molded by the Southwest. Its deserts, canyons, mountain ranges and stunning skies offer a palette of colors and earthly geometry found in no other region of the world. Looking upon the landscapes in places like Utah or Arizona, they share the unmistakable aesthetic of the Southwest—and when viewing the artwork of Brett Allen Johnson, the paintings are unmistakably Johnson.
Sulphur and Iron, oil, 20 x 40"The artist brings a brand new group of oils to an upcoming solo show at Maxwell Alexander Gallery in Los Angeles, running July 16 to August 6. Raised in the small town of American Fork, Utah, at the foot of Mount Timpanogos in the Wasatch Range, Johnson has carved his own path in Western art, building his style of defined forms and sharp, vivid color. 
Red Pocket, oil, 16 x 20"
“My practice is still evolving,” he says. “I’m often restless with technique, and there are paintings in the show which are ‘tidy’ and…others where I wanted to exploit more variation in color and brushwork…When I started [this new body of work], I wanted to put together a few paintings based on some of the more desolate areas I like, the stuff that’s out of the way and overlooked—the deep desert. But as I’ve worked on them, I think that title is probably a sort of duel meaning. These are as much about the spiritual nature of the desert as they are about the sand and clay itself.”
Shadow Side, oil, 24 x 44"
Mesa with Grey Hills depicts a scene near Caineville, Utah, the flat form of a red mesa contrasted by the gray and chiseled geology below it. Red Pocket captures the curving forms of warm gold and red rocks steadily sculpted by time and by geologic processes. And in Shadow Side, the dark side of a towering mesa creates stark contrast against a pale, clear sky. The rock formation is grand—almost kingly—standing sentinel in that deep desert Johnson speaks of. 
Mesa with Grey Hills, oil, 18 x 20"“As I always do, I hope these can take [viewers] somewhere,” says Johnson. “My paintings really aren’t literal. People may see a familiar bit of scenery, but if they take the time, I hope they find something contemplative in them, a strange but familiar beauty.” —
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