Artist Statement

My Creation on paper or canvas do not come from a place of preconception.  They come from the inner most chambers of my soul.

The essence of what I am is a spiritual being.  I am a Dine (Navajo) man of Tl’aashchi’i clan and born for the Kiyaa’aanii clan.  Even as I write it, it feels like I am saying a prayer.

Everything I am and do I hope comes from a place of harmony.  If my mind, body and spirit are in balance then I can produce an image which reflects my truth.

I hope my abstractions are ways for the observers to feel the essence of my inner self; not to get caught up in the distractions of outer appearances.  It is not the form that touches our deepest longings but rather the story my images evoke in the viewer.  This is the ultimate impact of my art.

“David Johns is a seer, and he comes very honestly by that gift.  In his remarkable artwork, he enables us to see as well.  His gift becomes our gift.  Here is the essential spirit of creation.”                      -N. Scott Momaday, Pulitzer-prize-winning author.

Vibrant in color and rich in texture, the paintings of David Johns not only dazzle the eye, but also touch the soul.  To see one of his paintings, be it abstract or portrait, is to gain a vision of the world into which he was born and to see the world as he perceives it.

David Johns was born in 1948 near Seba Dalkai, a remote desert region of northern Arizona.  This land is part of the vast territory that his people, the Dine (Navajo), have lived in since the beginning of time.  As a child, David spent many hours with his grandmother herding sheep through their land, as the Dine have done for generations before his time.  During these years, she passed on to David the teachings her grandparents gave to her.  She taught him how to respect and care for the land, plants and animals who enable the Dine to live.  She told him many of the stories and legends which explains how the Dine came to be and where his parents clans originated.  From her and the other elders in his family he learned that all things in the world have male and female counterparts and that life exists because of this delicate balance.  From his childhood on, he learned to live according to the Dine Way:  to strive for balance, beauty and harmony in all aspects of life. 

David received formal training in fine arts from the Northern Arizona University, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in 1982.  His work combine that training with the traditional teachings he learned as a child and the Dine philosophy of life by which he lives.  The symmetry of David’s paintings reflect this harmony and balance; the colors and textures he creates reflect the beauty of the land from which he comes.  His abstract paintings express his sense of the world around him by capturing life’s subtle phenomenon such as the sunlight at different times of the day or the emotions brought by each of the four seasons.  His masterful portraits display the vitality of the Dine people.  He explains that all of his choices of color and composition come forth from a place deep within himself.  And yet he sees his talent as coming from beyond himself and considers it a gift to be shared with everyone.  His work continues to receive praise from his community, and in 1997, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Northern Arizona University.

The care and attention that David devotes to his painting mirror the ties that strengthen his family.  David’s wife, Gloria, shares with him a love for Dine tradition.  They have been committed to passing their traditions on to their four exceptionally talented children, Clifford, Elisha, Wahleah and Johansen.  Now they are all passing the teachings on to their grandchildren, David Joseph, Nicholas Todd, Mateyah Aberle; and

Noheah Aberle, Quinn Hannan and Kho Hannan At’ahzhoon.  To see the paintings of David Johns is to witness the heart of this man, his family and the traditions of his people.

EDUCATION:

1997                Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters, Northern Arizona University – Flagstaff, AZ

1982                Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Degree in Painting and Printmaking, Northern Arizona University – Flagstaff, AZ

1968-72           General Studies, Northern Arizona University – Flagstaff, AZ

1968                High School Diploma, Winslow High School, Winslow, AZ

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES:

1982 -2006      Full Time Artist and Practitioner in the Dine Tradition and Culture

1999                Europe Exhibitions & Lectures – Monte Carlo, Monaco, Geneva, Switzerland, and Grenoble, France

1987-89           The Mural at the Concord Place, The Concord Place, Phoenix, AZ

1977-78           High School Art Instructor, Rough Rock High School, Rough Rock, AZ

1976-77           Art Instructor, College of Ganado, Ganado, AZ

ONE ARTIST EXHIBITIONS:  

2006               November – Lanning  Gallery, Sedona, AZ.

1999                January – Association Des Jeunes Monegasques – Monaco, France

1999                February – Palzis de Nations, Untied Nations – Geneva, Switzerland

1999                March – International Artists’ Gallery in Association with City Hall – Grenoble, France

1998                Art Museum, Northern Arizona University – Flagstaff, AZ

1993                “Hozhoogo Nitse’hekees: Thoughts of Beauty”, Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, NM

1988                “An Evening Under the Dome”, The Concord Place, Phoenix, AZ

1984                C.G. Rein Galleries, Santa Fe, NM

1982                Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ

1980                Lovena Ohl Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

1977                Navajo Tribal Museum, Window Rock, AZ

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

2004                “Symbols of Faith and Belief”, Navajo Nation Museum, Window Rock, AZ

2003                INDIAN NDN Art – Celebrating a New Publication by Fresco Fine Art Publication, Santa Fe Art Institute, College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM

2003                February to December - “Collecting Spirits, A Santa Fe Tradition”, Museum of New Mexico of Indian Arts & Culture, Santa Fe, NM

2001                Lanning Gallery, Sedona, AZ

2000                Columbine Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

1980-98           Lovena Ohl Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

1997                March to December – Museum of New Mexico of Indian Arts & Culture

                        Native Abstraction: Modern Forms – Ancient Ideas, Santa Fe, NM

1995                January to February – Traveling Exhibition of NAU Fine Arts Alumni, Shemer Art Center, Phoenix, AZ

1994                September to October – Embassy of the United States, Brucken Und Abgrenzungen, Gorlitz, Germany

1994                September to October – “Current Direction NAU Art Alumni”, NAU Art Museum, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ

1994                American Music Week, 194-IM Forum DER MM KUNST-UND BUNDERSPEPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND, Bonn, Germany

1993                David Johns/Juane Quick-To-See Smith – Two Person Show, Reiper-Riegraf Gallery, Frankfurt, Germany

1993                May to June – “International Tage, Ingelheim, Germany

1991                Museum of Man, San Diego, CA

1989                Contemporary Native American Exhibition, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ

1988-89           “Four Sacred Mountains: Colors, Form and Abstraction”, Traveling Exhibition Arizona Art Commission, Phoenix, AZ

1987                Four Sacred Mountains Contemporary Indian Arts Festival, Tuba City High School, Tuba City, AZ

1987                Wellemo and Finnish Film Institute, Helsinki, Finland

1987                Alumni Show, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ

1985-86           The Navajo Show, Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ

1984                Palais de Nations, United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland

1983                Flagstaff Festival of Arts, Flagstaff, AZ

1982                Wheelwright Museum, Santa Fe, NM

1982                Red Cloud Indian Art Show, Pine Ridge, SD

1980                Senior Exhibitions, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ

1976                Many Horse Gallery, Marina Del Rey, CA 

PUBLICATIONS:

2005                Winter 2005 - National Museum of the American Indian Magazine, The Turquoise Turtoise Gallery, Sedona, AZ

2005                “New Day Rising” by Joel W. Harnett, Phoenix, AZ

2003                INDIAN NDN Art – New Mexico Artist Series, Fresco Fine Art Publication, LLC

2003                New Mexico 25^th Anniversary Edition, Museum of Indian Arts & Culture Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe, NM

2002                “Dine…A History of the Navajos” by Peter Iverson, Artist and Storytellers “We Survive as a People”, Photograph by Monty Roessel, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM

2000                January – Nice and Monaco Matin, American Idians in Back Drop, Nice, France

1999                “In Search of a Continent”, Cover Art: David Johns, Printed in Hakapaino Oy, Helsinki, Finland

1999                August - “New Expressions”, David Johns Takes an Abstract Approach to Native American Art, Southwest Art Magazine

1995                “A Couple”, Cover Illustration, Home Places, Contemporary Native American Writing from Sun Tracks, The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ

1993                “Southwest Lifestyle”, Jan D’Arti, KTAR TV 3, Phoenix, AZ

1993                “Indianer Nordamerikas-Kunst und Mythos” Katalog, International Tage, Ingelheim, Germany

1992                October – Phoenix Home and Gardens by Lila Harnett, Phoenix, AZ

1992                “Dome of Four Directions” by Lois and Jerry Jacka, Arizona Highways, Phoenix, AZ

1991                September - “David Johns on the Trail of Beauty” by Lois and Jerry Jacka, Snailspace Publishing, Inc.

1991                March – “Beauty All Around Me” by Lois Jacka, Southwest Art Magazine

1991                Editor’s Perspective by Susan H. McGarry, Southwest Art Magazine

1990                Spring - “Do’Tsoh” by Carol Brown, Native People Magazine

1990                Zeitgenossische indianische Kunst, Katalog, Dorothee Pieper-Riegraf

1998                AMERIKAN TIELLA – ROUTE 66, Markku Henriksson, Helsinki, Finland

1988                Scottsdale Magazine, Scottsdale, AZ

1988                Art West Magazine, Denver, CO

1988                June - The Arizona Gazette, Phoenix, AZ

1987                Southwest Art Magazine, Houston, TX

1986                Scottsdale Scene, Scottsdale, AZ

1980                Carefree Enterprise, Carefree, AZ

AWARDS AND PUBLICATIONS:

2006                The Brooklyn Museum Collection, New York City, New York

1999                Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ

1996                Distinguished Alumni Award, Centennial Year of Science, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ

1994                Purchase Award, Nellis Air Force Base, Federal Medical Center, Las Vegas, NV

1990                The Jubilee Year Distinguished Alumnus Award-A Commitment to Excellence, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ

1989                The Pine, Alumni Magazine, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ

1988                Commission on the Mural at the Concord Place, Phoenix, AZ

1987                Purchase Award, Finnish Film Institute, Helsinki, Finland

1987                Purchase Award, The Arizona Public Service Building, Phoenix, AZ

1985                Painting-The Navajo Show Division Award, Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ

1985                Purchase Award, Rainer National Bank, Seattle, WA

1985                Purchase Award, Valley Nation Bank, Phoenix, AZ

1985                Purchase Award, Department of Interior, Washington, D. C.

1982                Painting Award, Red Cloud Art Exhibition, Pine Ridge, SD

1982                Purchase Award, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ

1980                Lovena Ohl Trust Foundation Award, Scottsdale, AZ

1979                Painting Award, Red Cloud Art Exhibition, Pine Ridge, SD

1972                Painting Award, Red Cloud Art Exhibition, Pine Ridge, SD