Anna Elise Johnson
Anna Elise Johnson is a contemporary artist based in Los Angeles, California. Born in Starnberg, Germany, and raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Anna Elise's artistic journey was shaped from an early age by her father, the renowned painter Roger Hayden Johnson, who guided her artistic growth from an early age. She went on to earn her BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Washington University in St. Louis.
After completing her degree, Anna Elise moved to Berlin, where she worked as an assistant to the celebrated artist Julie Mehretu. During her time with Mehretu, she assisted in major projects for the Deutsche Guggenheim exhibition and worked on the monumental painting “Mural” for Goldman Sachs in New York City.
Seeking further artistic development, Anna Elise returned to the U.S. to pursue an MFA at the University of Chicago, where she studied with notable artists including William Pope.L, Laura Letinsky, and Geof Oppenheimer. Her academic and studio practice flourished during this time, strengthening her conceptual and technical approach.
Following graduate school, Anna Elise was awarded a prestigious Core Fellowship at the Glassell School of Art in Houston, Texas, where she further refined her work. Over the years, her art has been featured in more than twenty group exhibitions across the United States and abroad, including shows in India at the University of Chicago's Delhi Center, in Slovenia, and multiple exhibitions in Germany. She has also held solo exhibitions in Chicago, Berlin, Dallas, Denver, and at the Blaffer Museum in Houston.
Anna Elise Johnson's work interrogates how images shape our understanding of ideology, politics, and our understanding of the landscape. She uses multiple techniques to layer and juxtapose images from different places and times in order to disrupt how we see images. In her recent work she explores how art has historically reinforced the divide between nature and culture. Her practice seeks to unravel these constructed boundaries, proposing that art can offer a means of reimagining our relationship to the world, its complex histories, and our place in the Anthropocene.
C.V. (Curriculum Vitae)
1983
- Born Starnberg, Germany
2005
- B.F.A., Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
2012
- M.F.A., The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Related Professional Experience
2021
- Maple Street Construct Artist Residency, Omaha, NE
2014
- Core Program Fellow, Houston, TX
- Rice University Adjunct Faculty, Human Figure Drawing
2013
- Core Program Fellow, Houston, TX
- Rice University Adjunct Faculty, Drawing I
2012
- Core Program Fellow, Houston, TX
- Rice University Adjunct Faculty, Drawing I
- Smart Museum of Art, Drawing Teacher, Sketching at the Smart Museum
- Painting Assistant for David Robbins at The Smart Museum's show "Feast: Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art"
2011
- Tottenham Hale International Studio's Residency Program, London, UK
2010
- Artist's Assistant for Julie Mehretu, Berlin, Germany
2009
- Artist's Assistant for Julie Mehretu, Berlin, Germany 2008 - 2009
2007
- Artist's Assistant for Roger Hayden Johnson (Anna Elise's father)
Work in Museum Collections
- The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Solo Exhibitions
2024
- Earthworks - Colorado Front Range, Space Gallery, Denver, CO
2023
- Earthworks - Mojave Desert, Cris Worley Fine Art, Dallas, TX
2022
- Vertical Ground, The Mission Projects, Chicago, IL
2021
- West Texas Earthworks, Cris Worley Fine Art, Dallas, TX
2019
- So-called Reality, Off1c1na, Rome, Italy
2018
- Second Sight, Cris Worley Fine Art, Dallas, TX
2016
- Inner Workings, Cris Worley Fine Art, Dallas, TX
- Structural Adjustment, The Mission, Chicago, IL
2014
- Cajole the Nice Nice, GAR Gallery, Galveston, TX
2013
- Slantwise, Otherwise, Blaffer Art Museum, Windows into Houston, Houston, TX
2012
- Congress Applauding Reagan, April 28, 1981, Windows on Main, Houston, TX
2011
- "We Cannot Accept Your Position", Lage Egal, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibitions
2022
- Psycho Geology, Bendix Building, Los Angeles, CA
- Passing Through, Logan Center, Chicago, IL
- Summer, Maple Street Constructs, Los Angeles, CA
- Garden II, Ladies' Room, Los Angeles, CA
2021
- Nomad, Torrance Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
- Unfamiliar Appearing, Maple Street Construct, Omaha, NE
- Back to the Garden, CADD SPACE, Dallas, TX
- Garden, Ladies' Room, Los Angeles, CA
2020
- Mythopoeia in Three Acts, Ochi Gallery, Ketchum, ID
- Waves, Ladies' Room, Los Angeles, CA
2019
- Selections, Cris Worley Fine Art, Dallas, TX
2018
- Landscapes, Space Gallery, Denver, CO
2016
- Patternmaster, W Hotel, Los Angeles, CA
- Sapphire, Weinberg/ Newton Gallery, Chicago, IL
- Flat Foldability, Harmony Murphy Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015
- Looking Askance, Gallery SKE, New Delhi, India
- Looking Askance, The University of Chicago Delhi Center, New Delhi, India
- The Ambassadors, Cris Worley Fine Arts, Dallas, TX
- Linear Imaginations, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX
2014
- Moments in the System, Mission Gallery, Houston, TX
- After Walker Evans, Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, Fort Worth, TX
- Brucennial, New York, NY
- Core Group Exhibition, Glassell School of Art, Houston, TX
- Moving, Not Moving, McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, TX
2013
- Mass Media, Mixed Media, Chuchifritos Gallery & Project Space, New York, NY
- Core Group Exhibition, Glassell School of Art, Houston, TX
2012
- Art and Politics, Hewitt Gallery of Art, New York, NY
- 2084, Slovenian Cinematheque, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- On Loan, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Philadelphia, PA
- Wildernesses, Logan Center, Chicago, IL
- Annual Juried Show, DOVA Temporary, Chicago, IL
2011
- MDW Art Fair, Chicago, IL
2010
- Heilige Lüge, Art Space Informal, Berlin, Germany
2009
- Lay Down Your Ruler, Schleiermacher Gallery, Berlin, Germany
- Group Exhibition, Ludwig-Lowe Hofe Art Space, Berlin, Germany
2007
- Play, Glogauer Residency, Berlin, Germany
- Group Exhibition, Space Gallery, Denver, CO
2006
- Juried Photography Show, Muse Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
- Hallway Pieces: Ongoing Interactive Installations, 123 Landvale Street, Baltimore, MD
2005
- Art in Human Motion, Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts, Fredericksburg, VA
- Photographic Image Biennial, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
2004
- Photography: A Moment in Time, St. Louis Artist's Guild, St. Louis, MO
- Best of Missouri, Jefferson City, MO
- National Computer Art Invitational Exhibition, Eastern Washington University, Spokane, WA
- The Minnesota National Print Biennial, Minneapolis, MN