This major survey exhibition opened with Tim Johnson's activities as a conceptual and performance artist in the early 1970s and co-founder of the Inhibodress artists' collective in Sydney. In addition to performance, documentation, films and artist books, this section also included Johnson's paintings and prints inspired by punk music.
The main section of Tim Johnson: Painting Ideas commenced with paintings inspired by Johnson's visits to Papunya in the 1980s and his subsequent collaborations with Aboriginal artists including Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri and Michael Jagamara Nelson among others. Johnson's interest in Buddhism and Asian iconography was also explored, and he draws inspiration from diverse sources. The remaining section of the exhibition was dedicated to the impressive paintings and other works that developed from artist's interest in tracing an often eclectic, and at times controversial, equivalence between artistic and spiritual practices across cultures and countries.
Curated by Julie Ewington and Wayne Tunnicliffe.