Luke Johnson is Minnesota-based artist, working in print media, drawing, and durational engagements within collections. In his work, Johnson draws from the stories and unintended afterlives of archival materials, responding to the ways objects embody, or fail to embody, their history and intent. He received his BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his MFA from the University of Alberta. He has taught printmaking, drawing, and related courses at the University of Alberta and Red Deer Polytechnic.
I am interested in the edges of knowledge: the boundaries between the discernible image and visual static; between thought and silence, truths and untruths. I enter archives, where we come to decide what we know and what we do not, and attempt to tease out the ways in which the forms of our understanding contribute to their legibility, or lack thereof. The knowledge itself that I encounter becomes form and content for prints, drawings, and installations; an inventory of precarity. My work perches between meaning and nothingness, asking a viewer what can be deciphered and what can be saved? What is it that we carry forward, and how do we decide what to discard? Are such decisions just? In documented traces of missing or discarded information and objects, and through the object lessons of my failed searches, my works stand as witnesses to the attempts we make to pass on what we know, and try to act as ballast—to slow an evaporation into the void.
CURRICULUM VITAE
full CV available on request
EDUCATION
2020 University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB
MFA - Printmaking
2016 University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
BFA - Print Media and Painting
SOLO AND COLLABORATIVE EXHIBITIONS
2024 Farewell to the North (Do Not Apply Compression Gently), Harcourt House, Edmonton, AB
2021 There Were Nothing But Pedigrees All Around Us, curated by Adam Whitford,
Southern Alberta Art Gallery Library, Lethbridge AB
2020 All Things Considered, Fine Arts Building Gallery, Edmonton AB
2016 Glass House, Raymond F. Dvorak Gallery, Madison WI
2015 Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), with Finn Curry, 7th Floor Gallery, Madison WI
2015 Garden of the Forking Paths, Madison Central Library, Madison WI
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Oh To Believe in Another World: South African—Canadian Collaboration in Print, FAB Gallery, Edmonton, AB
2025 Landmarking, curated by Alex Thompson & Vinicius Libardoni, Universidad de Puerto Rico Recinto, PR
2025 Sumergir y Resurgir, curated by Ruthann Godollei, Liga de Arte de San Juan, San Juan, PR
2025 The Fine Print, White Bear Center for the Arts, White Bear Lake, MN
2025 Baker University National 2025, juried by Trish Van Osdel, Holt Russell Gallery, Baldwin City, KS
2024 a crack in the leak, curated by Ariel Wood, MASS Gallery, Austin, TX
2024 In the Middle of Something, curated by Marnie Blair, Viewpoint Gallery, Red Deer, AB
2024 No Show, curated by Justine Jenkins, SNAP Gallery, Edmonton, AB
2024 Undercurrents, curated by Michael Ezzell & Elizabeth Jean Younce, SGCI 'Verified by Proof,' Providence, RI
2023 Atlanta Print Biennial, juried by Miranda Metcalf, Kai Lin Art, Atlanta, GA
2023 Ghosts in the Gallery, The New Gallery, Calgary, AB; pop-up events in Edmonton, Toronto, and Montréal
2022 Speculative Energy Futures, SQUARE, St. Gallen, Switzerland
2022 The November Show, dh art world, Edmonton, AB
2022 Chopshop 6, curated by Derrick Buisch, Gelsy Verna Gallery, Madison, WI
2022 SNAP at 40, SNAP Gallery, Edmonton AB
2022 Codes of Conduct, co-curated with Aaron David, University of Wisconsin-Madison WI
2022 Re•Vision, Overture Center for the Arts, Madison, WI; Jill Krutick Fine Art, Mamaroneck NY
2021 Third International Print Biennale Yerevan, Yerevan, Armenia
2021 Tectonic Shifts, juried by Edie Overturf, Tippetts & Eccles Galleries, Logan UT
2021 At a Time: Tender and Tense, SNAP Gallery, Edmonton AB
2021 Bituminous Partings, curated by Alex Thompson, Fine Arts Building Gallery, Edmonton AB
2021 Okanagan Print Triennial, Vernon Public Art Gallery, Vernon BC
2020 10th International Printmaking Biennial Douro, Douro, Portugal
2020 In Place, SNAP Gallery, Edmonton AB
2020 Habitus, juried by Sheila Goloborotko & Andrew Kozlowski, Lufrano Gallery, Jacksonville FL
2019 15th Graphica Creativa International Print Triennial, Jyväskylä Art Museum, Jyväskylä, Finland
2019 Prototypes for Possible Worlds, curated by Natalie Loveless & Sheena Wilson, FAB Gallery, Edmonton AB
2019 4th Global Print, Douro, Portugal
2019 Devil's Dictionary, Gallery 224, Port Washington WI
2019 Printed Matter, curated by Alicja Habisiak Matczak, Kobro Gallery, Strzemiński Academy, Łódź, Poland
2019 Dyscorpia, curated by Marilène Oliver, Enterprise Square Galleries, Edmonton AB
2019 Habitus, curated by Sheila Goloborotko and Andrew Kozlowski, University of Dallas, Irving TX
2018 Stand Out Prints, juried by Crawford Alexander Man III, Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis MN
2018 way out west, curated by Candice Corgan & Zack Petot, University of Wyoming, Laramie WY
2018 Eco Dirt Buffet Cabaret, curated by Natalie Loveless & Jessie Beier, Mile Zero Dance, Edmonton AB
2018 Felt, Society of Northern Alberta Print-Artists (SNAP) Gallery, Edmonton AB
2018 Salt City Dozen, juried by Ericka Walker, Sarah A. Coyne Gallery, Syracuse NY
2018 Anthropocities, IPCC Cities and Climate Change Conference, Shaw Centre, Edmonton AB
2017 International Print Biennale Yerevan 2017, Yerevan, Armenia
2017 Hello I Love You I'm Sorry, SGCI Conference, Atlanta GA
2016 Big Ten[t], curated by Barry Carlsen, ArtHelix, Brooklyn NY; Chicago IL; SoE Gallery, Madison WI
2016 Twin Cities Print Exchange, Boneshaker Books, Minneapolis MN
2016 The Last Sound on this Worthless Earth, 7th Floor Gallery, Madison WI
2016 Criminal, Overture Center for the Arts, Madison WI; Hoffman Gallery, Portland OR
2016 Suede Boots on a Wooden Floor, Ash Street Project, Portland OR
2015 I Love You When You’re Unhinged, 7th Floor Gallery, Madison WI
2015 And, Gallery 1010, Knoxville TN; Gelsy Verna Gallery, Madison WI; Drewelowe Gallery, Iowa City IA
2015 Apathetically Yours, 7th Floor Gallery, Madison WI
2015 87th Annual Student Art Show, Gallery 1308, Madison WI
2015 Manifestations, 7th Floor Gallery, Madison WI
2014 Fresh Hot Press, Breathing Space Gallery, Mount Lawley, Australia
2014 Tiny Hands on a Rubber Suit, Commonwealth Gallery, Madison WI
2014 Earl Grey, Art Lofts, Madison WI
2014 Midwest Multiples, juried by Hesse McGraw, Nemeth Art Center, Park Rapids MN
2014 Beyond the Horizon, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia
SELECTED CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2025 Oh To Believe in Another World, with Steven Dixon, FAB Gallery, Edmonton, AB
2024 Landscapes of the Interior: Canadian Printmaking 1970-present, RDP Gallery, Red Deer AB
2022 Obscure Objects of Desire: Jack Damer & Lyndal Osborne, Fine Arts Building Gallery, Edmonton AB
2022 Codes of Conduct, with Aaron David, SGCI Conference 2022, Madison WI
2016 Criminal, with Ryan Cain, Overture Center for the Arts, Madison WI; Hoffman Gallery, Portland OR
2015 The Gang’s All Here: 70 Years of the Madison Mafia, Art Lofts Gallery, Madison WI
RESIDENCIES, PUBLIC TALKS & PRESENTATIONS
2024 Central Alberta Teachers Conference, Red Deer, AB
2023 Art 101 lecture series, Red Deer Polytechnic, Red Deer, AB
2021 Art NOW lecture series, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge AB
2021 SNAP Emerging Artist in Residence, Edmonton AB
2018 ARTiculations lecture series, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB
2017 Grand Marais Art Colony Artist in Residence, Grand Marais MN
2016 Guest Artist, Perpich Center for the Arts, Golden Valley MN
2016 "Experiments in Acrylic Resist Aquatint," Undergraduate Symposium, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI
SCHOLARSHIPS & AWARDS
2022 Nominee, Queen Sonja Print Award
2021 Alberta Foundation for the Arts Visual Arts & New Media Project Grant
2021 Craig Hall Purchase Award - Okanagan Print Triennial
2018 Alberta Foundation for the Arts Graduate Scholarship
2017 University of Alberta Thesis-based Master's Recruitment Scholarship
2016 Finalist, Rochester Art Center Emerging Artist Exhibition Series
2015 Hilldale Undergraduate/Faculty Research Fellowship - with Emily Arthur
2015 Lois G. Roberts Scholarship
2015 Purchase Award - 87th Annual Student Art Show
2013 Kenneth D. Brown and Robert G. Kaentje Scholarship
2012 Catherine V. and Virginia E. Tenuta Scholarship
SELECT PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
DeWitt Wallace Special Collections, Macalester College, Minneapolis MN
Kulturdialog Armenien, Yerevan Armenia
Lake Effect Editions Archive, Syracuse NY
Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland OR
University of Dallas, Irving TX
University of North Florida, Jacksonville FL
Wisconsin Union Art Collection, Madison WI
Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw GA
SELECTED PUBLISHED WORKS
The Next 50 Years, essay in catalogue edited by Adam Waldron-Blain; Edmonton: Latitude 53 Gallery, 2024.
Landscapes of the Interior: Canadian Printmaking 1970-Present, exhibition catalogue, Red Deer Polytechnic, 2024.
"blessed are the nonchalant," essay accompanying PROOFREAD, solo exhibition by Yvonne Mullock, 2024.
a silence that is not suppression (instead it is all there is), essay, SNAPline 2024.1 (2024): 18-23.
SNAP at 40, oral history compiled for SNAP Printshop and Gallery's 40th anniversary, 2023.
When to Stand and When to Run, essay, SNAPline 2021.2 (2021): 11-17.
The Body in the Library, essay, SNAPline, 2019.3 (2019): 12-17.
Transformations, promotional artwork and graphics for UW Opera, 2015-16.
Illumination, Undergraduate Journal of the Humanities, artwork, Spring 2015.
SELECTED PRESS & CATALOGUES
Wood, Ariel, ed. a crack in the leak. Exhibition catalogue with ten thematic essays; Austin: MASS Gallery, 2024.
Farewell to the North (Do Not Apply Compression Gently). Exhibition brochure with essay by Elizabeth Herbert;
Edmonton: Harcourt House, 2024.
Pulido-Guzman, Alejandra. “Southern Alberta Art Gallery opens three new exhibits.” Lethbridge Herald, Dec. 1, 2021.
There Were Nothing But Pedigrees All Around Us. Exhibition brochure with curatorial essay by Adam Whitford;
Lethbridge: Southern Alberta Art Gallery, 2021.
Qureshi, Iman. “SNAP Gallery hosts ‘At a Time: Tender and Tense.’’ The Gateway, Nov. 26, 2021.
Briar Craig and Lubos Culen. Okanagan Print Triennial. Exhibition catalogue, 2021.
Third International Print Biennale Yerevan. Exhibition catalogue, 2021.
Marilène Oliver and Daniel Laforest, eds. Dyscorpia: Future Intersections of the Body & Technology.
Exhibition catalogue; Edmonton, University of Alberta, 2019.
Ball-Snellen, Brittany, ed. Anthropocities. Exhibition catalogue, with essay on my work by Michael Wooley, 2018.
1st International Print Biennale Yerevan 2017. Exhibition catalogue, 2018.
Big Ten[t]. Exhibition catalogue, Barry Carlsen, 2016.
Vaughn, Katie. “Eight art shows explore reality, illusion and the need for change.” Madison Magazine, May 2, 2016.
