
Mutilated Venus
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 925
Measurements: 213.36 x 243.84 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1992
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA
Work by Rae Johnson

Suntan
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 910
Description:
Measurements: 60.96 x 40.64 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1979
Materials: acrylic on paper
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Anima/Animus
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 911
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 213.36 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1981
Materials: acrylic on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Night Games at the Paradise
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 914
Description:
Measurements: 213.36 x 335.28 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1984
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

I Can Hear It
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 912
Description:
Measurements: Triptych: 91.44 x 274.32 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1984
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

The Moon Drew Them to the Water
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 915
Description:
Measurements: 149.86 x 180.34 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1984
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Incident at the Lisbon Plate
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 913
Description:
Measurements: 213.36 x 335.28 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1984
Materials: acrylic on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Blue Stairway
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 917
Description:
Measurements: 215.9 x 165.1 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1985
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Red Interior
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 916
Description:
Measurements: 165.1 x 264.16 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1985
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Night in Negril
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 918
Description:
Measurements: 203.2 x 243.84 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1986
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Theatre of the Dislocated
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 919
Description:
Measurements: 165.1 x 264.16 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1986
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Sunset Lake Winnipeg
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 940
Description:
Measurements: 243.84 x 365.76 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1988
Materials: oil on mahogany
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Storm Front Breaking
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 942
Description:
Measurements: 274.32 x 365.76 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1989
Materials: oil on mahogany
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Green Sky
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 943
Description:
Measurements: 243.84 x 365.76 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1989
Materials: oil on mahogany
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Clouds Breaking
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 941
Description:
Measurements: 243.84 x 243.84 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1989
Materials: oil on mahogany
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

…The Virgin Defiled
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 929
Description:
Measurements: 213.36 x 121.92 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1991
Materials: oil on plywood
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

…Dragon of Queen W.
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 928
Description:
Measurements: 213.36 x 121.92 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1991
Materials: oil on plywood
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Andromeda, Medusa, Star-Baby
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 930
Description:
Measurements: 213.36 x 121.92 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1991
Materials: oil on plywood
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Cain’s Seed
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 926
Description:
Measurements: 213.36 x 243.84 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1992
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Bambino Miracolo (study)
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 920
Description:
Measurements: 215.9 x 177.8 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1992
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Mutilated Venus
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 925
Description:
Measurements: 213.36 x 243.84 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1992
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Via Cardelli Entrance
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 931
Description:
Measurements: 249.936 x 199.898 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1992
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Bambino Miracolo
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 921
Description: Artist's Statement
Bambino Miracolo and Annunciation were site specific paintings for the Canadian Cultural Centre in Rome, 1993. The time frame of the exhibition coincided with the deployment of UN troops to Somalia and Bosnia. The reason for making these paintings was to bear witness to the daily genocide for an international audience in a Canadian diplomatic venue.
This painting is predominantly blue, the colour of the spirit and the mind. Central to it is an infant heart transplant; humanity on life support. The angel is the mediary of unknown external forces and our destiny to balance life and death. Disembodied hands of science and god circle the infant in a late 20th century remake of the creation myth.
Measurements: 299.974 x 400.05 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1993
Materials: oil on linen
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Annunciation
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 923
Description: Artist's Statement
Bambino Miracolo and Annunciation were site specific paintings for the Canadian Cultural Centre in Rome, 1993. The time frame of the exhibition coincided with the deployment of UN troops to Somalia and Bosnia. The reason for making these paintings was to bear witness to the daily genocide for an international audience in a Canadian diplomatic venue.
This painting is a visual prayer for Bosnia. It is predominantly red, the colour of blood and fecundity, representing the Earth. The Annunciation is a promise of the new -- a step toward the spiritual evolution of humanity. Central to it is the newborn "Benetton" baby surrounded by angel-soldiers. Above is a night sky containing the hands of the Feminine resting on red clothing/membrane concealing the angel of death.
Measurements: 299.974 x 400.05 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1993
Materials: oil on linen
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Annunciation (study)
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 922
Description:
Measurements: 249.936 x 150.114 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1993
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Madonna of the Goldfinch/Baby
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 924
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 213.36 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1994
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Death / Baby
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 939
Description:
Measurements: 60.96 x 76.2 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1994
Materials: acrylic on paper
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Interior/Red Chair
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 933
Description:
Measurements: 213.36 x 243.84 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1994
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Interior with Skull Mask
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 938
Description:
Measurements: 60.96 x 76.2 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1994
Materials: acrylic on paper
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Windy Day, Flesherton Pond
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 950
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 213.36 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1995
Materials: oil on birch
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Three Fates (detail)
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 1177
Description:
Measurements:
Collection:
Date Made: 1995
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Bright Day, Beaver Dam, Algoma
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 947
Description: Artist's Statement
The Algoma Paintings
These paintings were developed from oil sketches made on site in Algoma in the fall of 1994. Each is a careful study of the day, paintings of drowned land in a primordial northern Ontario forest. Isolated trees call to each other from across a bottomless black swamp.
Measurements: 182.88 x 121.92 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1995
Materials: oil on birch
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Dark Day, Beaver Dam, Algoma
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 946
Description: Artist's Statement
The Algoma Paintings
These paintings were developed from oil sketches made on site in Algoma in the fall of 1994. Each is a careful study of the day, paintings of drowned land in a primordial northern Ontario forest. Isolated trees call to each other from across a bottomless black swamp.
Measurements: 182.88 x 121.92 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1995
Materials: oil on birch
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Toronto Studio
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 932
Description:
Measurements: 121.92 x 182.88 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1995
Materials: oil on wood panel
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Sun Dog, Beaver Dam, Algoma
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 945
Description: Artist's Statement
The Algoma Paintings
These paintings were developed from oil sketches made on site in Algoma in the fall of 1994. Each is a careful study of the day, paintings of drowned land in a primordial northern Ontario forest. Isolated trees call to each other from across a bottomless black swamp.
Measurements: 182.88 x 121.92 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1995
Materials: oil on birch
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Study for Civil War Chair
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 935
Description:
Measurements: 60.96 x 76.2 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1995
Materials: acrylic on paper
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Swamp Flowers, Flesherton Pond
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 951
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 213.36 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1995
Materials: oil on birch
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Fallen Birch, Algoma
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 948
Description: Artist's Statement
The Algoma Paintings
These paintings were developed from oil sketches made on site in Algoma in the fall of 1994. Each is a careful study of the day, paintings of drowned land in a primordial northern Ontario forest. Isolated trees call to each other from across a bottomless black swamp.
Measurements: 182.88 x 121.92 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1995
Materials: oil on birch
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Three Fates
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 927
Description:
Measurements: 213.36 x 243.84 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1995
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Reflections / Stumps
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 949
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 213.36 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1995
Materials: oil on birch
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Interior/Civil War Chair
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 934
Description:
Measurements: 213.36 x 243.84 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 1995
Materials: oil on wood panel
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Cat / Yellow
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51378
Description:
Measurements: 45.72 x 30.48 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 1997
Materials: oil on panel
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Cat / Orange
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51388
Description:
Measurements: 45.72 x 30.48 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 1997
Materials: oil on panel
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Yellow Eyes
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51389
Description:
Measurements: 40.64 x 30.48 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 1997
Materials: oil on panel
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Study for Firebird
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51395
Description:
Measurements: 60.96 x 60.96 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 1997
Materials: oil on panel
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Girl and Her Cat
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51380
Description:
Measurements: 172.72 x 121.92 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 1997
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Remembering You
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51379
Description:
Measurements: 121.92 x 121.92 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 1997
Materials: oil on panel
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Joslyn II with Cat
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51382
Description: Dream Girl - 1999
The dream girl paintings began with photo sessions using a digital camera to record my daughter Joslyn sitting inside of a "still-life" of objects - curtains, glass tables, flowers, sculpture. As she sat quietly, her face would subtly transform, her inner thoughts floating across her features like shadows. When I saw a "moment" that I recognized I would record it, then draw it and paint it on canvas.
In this group of paintings, the digital photograph served as a preliminary drawing. I used a grid to map the digital image onto canvas. Then I used graphite to block in the image replicating the exact proportions of the digital still. An interesting perceptual tension arose. The surface is explicitly sensual with the stroking and smudging of a soft drawing graphite caught within the rigid outlines of the camera. The eye subliminally recognizes the proportions of a machine-seen "real" image - the digital photograph - yet the rendering is low-tech, tactile, hand-made "unreal".
Measurements: 170.18 x 124.46 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 1998
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Installation at Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51390
Description:
Measurements:
Collection:
Date Made: 1998
Materials:
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Firebird, Lake Winnipeg
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51393
Description:
Measurements: 213.36 x 182.88 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 1998
Materials: oil on panel
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Streamers
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51391
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 213.36 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 1998
Materials: oil on panel
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Storm Front, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51392
Description:
Measurements: 213.36 x 182.88 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 1998
Materials: oil on panel
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Hexagonal table
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51381
Description:
Measurements: 121.92 x 121.92 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 1998
Materials: oil on panel
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Installation at Lonsdale Gallery, Toronto
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51394
Description:
Measurements:
Collection:
Date Made: 1998
Materials:
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Joslyn IV Dream Girl
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51383
Description: Dream Girl - 1999
The dream girl paintings began with photo sessions using a digital camera to record my daughter Joslyn sitting inside of a "still-life" of objects - curtains, glass tables, flowers, sculpture. As she sat quietly, her face would subtly transform, her inner thoughts floating across her features like shadows. When I saw a "moment" that I recognized I would record it, then draw it and paint it on canvas.
In this group of paintings, the digital photograph served as a preliminary drawing. I used a grid to map the digital image onto canvas. Then I used graphite to block in the image replicating the exact proportions of the digital still. An interesting perceptual tension arose. The surface is explicitly sensual with the stroking and smudging of a soft drawing graphite caught within the rigid outlines of the camera. The eye subliminally recognizes the proportions of a machine-seen "real" image - the digital photograph - yet the rendering is low-tech, tactile, hand-made "unreal".
Measurements: 177.8 x 127 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 1999
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Joslyn III with Broken Flower
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51385
Description: Dream Girl - 1999
The dream girl paintings began with photo sessions using a digital camera to record my daughter Joslyn sitting inside of a "still-life" of objects - curtains, glass tables, flowers, sculpture. As she sat quietly, her face would subtly transform, her inner thoughts floating across her features like shadows. When I saw a "moment" that I recognized I would record it, then draw it and paint it on canvas.
In this group of paintings, the digital photograph served as a preliminary drawing. I used a grid to map the digital image onto canvas. Then I used graphite to block in the image replicating the exact proportions of the digital still. An interesting perceptual tension arose. The surface is explicitly sensual with the stroking and smudging of a soft drawing graphite caught within the rigid outlines of the camera. The eye subliminally recognizes the proportions of a machine-seen "real" image - the digital photograph - yet the rendering is low-tech, tactile, hand-made "unreal".
Measurements: 177.8 x 124.46 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 1999
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Study for Dream Girl
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51387
Description: Dream Girl - 1999
The dream girl paintings began with photo sessions using a digital camera to record my daughter Joslyn sitting inside of a "still-life" of objects - curtains, glass tables, flowers, sculpture. As she sat quietly, her face would subtly transform, her inner thoughts floating across her features like shadows. When I saw a "moment" that I recognized I would record it, then draw it and paint it on canvas.
In this group of paintings, the digital photograph served as a preliminary drawing. I used a grid to map the digital image onto canvas. Then I used graphite to block in the image replicating the exact proportions of the digital still. An interesting perceptual tension arose. The surface is explicitly sensual with the stroking and smudging of a soft drawing graphite caught within the rigid outlines of the camera. The eye subliminally recognizes the proportions of a machine-seen "real" image - the digital photograph - yet the rendering is low-tech, tactile, hand-made "unreal".
Measurements:
Collection:
Date Made: 1999
Materials: oil on panel
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Joslyn IV with Geranium
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51386
Description: Dream Girl - 1999
The dream girl paintings began with photo sessions using a digital camera to record my daughter Joslyn sitting inside of a "still-life" of objects - curtains, glass tables, flowers, sculpture. As she sat quietly, her face would subtly transform, her inner thoughts floating across her features like shadows. When I saw a "moment" that I recognized I would record it, then draw it and paint it on canvas.
In this group of paintings, the digital photograph served as a preliminary drawing. I used a grid to map the digital image onto canvas. Then I used graphite to block in the image replicating the exact proportions of the digital still. An interesting perceptual tension arose. The surface is explicitly sensual with the stroking and smudging of a soft drawing graphite caught within the rigid outlines of the camera. The eye subliminally recognizes the proportions of a machine-seen "real" image - the digital photograph - yet the rendering is low-tech, tactile, hand-made "unreal".
Measurements: 157.48 x 124.46 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 1999
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Joslyn I with New Guinea Head
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51384
Description: Dream Girl - 1999
The dream girl paintings began with photo sessions using a digital camera to record my daughter Joslyn sitting inside of a "still-life" of objects - curtains, glass tables, flowers, sculpture. As she sat quietly, her face would subtly transform, her inner thoughts floating across her features like shadows. When I saw a "moment" that I recognized I would record it, then draw it and paint it on canvas.
In this group of paintings, the digital photograph served as a preliminary drawing. I used a grid to map the digital image onto canvas. Then I used graphite to block in the image replicating the exact proportions of the digital still. An interesting perceptual tension arose. The surface is explicitly sensual with the stroking and smudging of a soft drawing graphite caught within the rigid outlines of the camera. The eye subliminally recognizes the proportions of a machine-seen "real" image - the digital photograph - yet the rendering is low-tech, tactile, hand-made "unreal".
Measurements: 119.38 x 88.9 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 1999
Materials: oil on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA
![Dreamgirl Exhibition, [installation view, Art Gallery of Peterborough]](https://ccca.art/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/joh073.jpg)
Dreamgirl Exhibition, [installation view, Art Gallery of Peterborough]
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51400
Description:
Measurements:
Collection:
Date Made: 2000
Materials:
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA
![Dreamgirl Exhibition, [installation view, Art Gallery of Peterborough]](https://ccca.art/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/joh069.jpg)
Dreamgirl Exhibition, [installation view, Art Gallery of Peterborough]
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51398
Description:
Measurements:
Collection:
Date Made: 2000
Materials:
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA
![Dreamgirl Exhibition, [installation view, Art Gallery of Peterborough]](https://ccca.art/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/joh075.jpg)
Dreamgirl Exhibition, [installation view, Art Gallery of Peterborough]
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51401
Description:
Measurements:
Collection:
Date Made: 2000
Materials:
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA
![Dreamgirl Exhibition, [installation view, Art Gallery of Peterborough]](https://ccca.art/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/joh066.jpg)
Dreamgirl Exhibition, [installation view, Art Gallery of Peterborough]
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51396
Description:
Measurements:
Collection:
Date Made: 2000
Materials:
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA
![Dreamgirl Exhibition, [installation view, Art Gallery of Peterborough]](https://ccca.art/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/joh070.jpg)
Dreamgirl Exhibition, [installation view, Art Gallery of Peterborough]
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51399
Description:
Measurements:
Collection:
Date Made: 2000
Materials:
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA
![Dreamgirl Exhibition, [installation view, Art Gallery of Peterborough]](https://ccca.art/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/joh067.jpg)
Dreamgirl Exhibition, [installation view, Art Gallery of Peterborough]
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51397
Description:
Measurements:
Collection:
Date Made: 2000
Materials:
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Shaking Plane
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51407
Description: The Ghost Plane Paintings 2001 - 2002.
In the first weeks after September 11th, I could not continue in the studio, business as usual. The events of 9-11, were of mythic proportions, a horrific expression of the collision of opposing world views. Ethically, I could not ignore the historic impact of the event. At the same time, I did not want to indulge in the jingoistic sensationalist frenzy playing out in the media. Who's Armegeddon is it anyway?
I was compelled to make these paintings after September 11th. I was fascinated by the image of United Airlines Flight 175 caught on video seconds before it vaporized into its target - captured in time - living on in endless spectacular replays in the news. I contemplated how the event continues to exist as a horrific afterimage in the collective memory - replaying over and over again in the media and in the dimension of thought.
The ghost plane is the central image in all of the paintings in this series. These oil and wax paintings, are visceral descriptions of Flight 175 as I conceptualize it, trapped within the space time continuum, like a prehistoric fly suspended in amber. I have painted and over-painted the image of the plane until it started to resonate from the materiality of the black paint itself. Eventually a platonic idea of the plane became embedded in the paint - an accumulation of hundreds of layers of painted planes, emerging visually out of a black nothing, shifting and shaking into discernable forms. These paintings function as mnemonic snap shots. They are slow to see and become clearer the longer they are looked at.
Measurements: 93.98 x 121.92 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 2001
Materials: oil, latex, wax on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Disappearing Plane
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51405
Description: The Ghost Plane Paintings 2001 - 2002.
In the first weeks after September 11th, I could not continue in the studio, business as usual. The events of 9-11, were of mythic proportions, a horrific expression of the collision of opposing world views. Ethically, I could not ignore the historic impact of the event. At the same time, I did not want to indulge in the jingoistic sensationalist frenzy playing out in the media. Who's Armegeddon is it anyway?
I was compelled to make these paintings after September 11th. I was fascinated by the image of United Airlines Flight 175 caught on video seconds before it vaporized into its target - captured in time - living on in endless spectacular replays in the news. I contemplated how the event continues to exist as a horrific afterimage in the collective memory - replaying over and over again in the media and in the dimension of thought.
The ghost plane is the central image in all of the paintings in this series. These oil and wax paintings, are visceral descriptions of Flight 175 as I conceptualize it, trapped within the space time continuum, like a prehistoric fly suspended in amber. I have painted and over-painted the image of the plane until it started to resonate from the materiality of the black paint itself. Eventually a platonic idea of the plane became embedded in the paint - an accumulation of hundreds of layers of painted planes, emerging visually out of a black nothing, shifting and shaking into discernable forms. These paintings function as mnemonic snap shots. They are slow to see and become clearer the longer they are looked at.
Measurements: 152.4 x 121.92 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 2001
Materials: oil, latex, wax on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Falling Plane
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51404
Description: The Ghost Plane Paintings 2001 - 2002.
In the first weeks after September 11th, I could not continue in the studio, business as usual. The events of 9-11, were of mythic proportions, a horrific expression of the collision of opposing world views. Ethically, I could not ignore the historic impact of the event. At the same time, I did not want to indulge in the jingoistic sensationalist frenzy playing out in the media. Who's Armegeddon is it anyway?
I was compelled to make these paintings after September 11th. I was fascinated by the image of United Airlines Flight 175 caught on video seconds before it vaporized into its target - captured in time - living on in endless spectacular replays in the news. I contemplated how the event continues to exist as a horrific afterimage in the collective memory - replaying over and over again in the media and in the dimension of thought.
The ghost plane is the central image in all of the paintings in this series. These oil and wax paintings, are visceral descriptions of Flight 175 as I conceptualize it, trapped within the space time continuum, like a prehistoric fly suspended in amber. I have painted and over-painted the image of the plane until it started to resonate from the materiality of the black paint itself. Eventually a platonic idea of the plane became embedded in the paint - an accumulation of hundreds of layers of painted planes, emerging visually out of a black nothing, shifting and shaking into discernable forms. These paintings function as mnemonic snap shots. They are slow to see and become clearer the longer they are looked at.
Measurements: 160.02 x 121.92 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 2001
Materials: oil, latex, wax on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Fading Plane
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51406
Description: The Ghost Plane Paintings 2001 - 2002.
In the first weeks after September 11th, I could not continue in the studio, business as usual. The events of 9-11, were of mythic proportions, a horrific expression of the collision of opposing world views. Ethically, I could not ignore the historic impact of the event. At the same time, I did not want to indulge in the jingoistic sensationalist frenzy playing out in the media. Who's Armegeddon is it anyway?
I was compelled to make these paintings after September 11th. I was fascinated by the image of United Airlines Flight 175 caught on video seconds before it vaporized into its target - captured in time - living on in endless spectacular replays in the news. I contemplated how the event continues to exist as a horrific afterimage in the collective memory - replaying over and over again in the media and in the dimension of thought.
The ghost plane is the central image in all of the paintings in this series. These oil and wax paintings, are visceral descriptions of Flight 175 as I conceptualize it, trapped within the space time continuum, like a prehistoric fly suspended in amber. I have painted and over-painted the image of the plane until it started to resonate from the materiality of the black paint itself. Eventually a platonic idea of the plane became embedded in the paint - an accumulation of hundreds of layers of painted planes, emerging visually out of a black nothing, shifting and shaking into discernable forms. These paintings function as mnemonic snap shots. They are slow to see and become clearer the longer they are looked at.
Measurements: 121.92 x 93.98 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 2001
Materials: oil, latex, wax on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Point / Plane
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51402
Description: The Ghost Plane Paintings 2001 - 2002.
In the first weeks after September 11th, I could not continue in the studio, business as usual. The events of 9-11, were of mythic proportions, a horrific expression of the collision of opposing world views. Ethically, I could not ignore the historic impact of the event. At the same time, I did not want to indulge in the jingoistic sensationalist frenzy playing out in the media. Who's Armegeddon is it anyway?
I was compelled to make these paintings after September 11th. I was fascinated by the image of United Airlines Flight 175 caught on video seconds before it vaporized into its target - captured in time - living on in endless spectacular replays in the news. I contemplated how the event continues to exist as a horrific afterimage in the collective memory - replaying over and over again in the media and in the dimension of thought.
The ghost plane is the central image in all of the paintings in this series. These oil and wax paintings, are visceral descriptions of Flight 175 as I conceptualize it, trapped within the space time continuum, like a prehistoric fly suspended in amber. I have painted and over-painted the image of the plane until it started to resonate from the materiality of the black paint itself. Eventually a platonic idea of the plane became embedded in the paint - an accumulation of hundreds of layers of painted planes, emerging visually out of a black nothing, shifting and shaking into discernable forms. These paintings function as mnemonic snap shots. They are slow to see and become clearer the longer they are looked at.
Measurements: 68.58 x 121.92 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 2001
Materials: oil, latex, wax on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA
![Point / Plane, [horizontal]](https://ccca.art/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/joh077.jpg)
Point / Plane, [horizontal]
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51403
Description: The Ghost Plane Paintings 2001 - 2002.
In the first weeks after September 11th, I could not continue in the studio, business as usual. The events of 9-11, were of mythic proportions, a horrific expression of the collision of opposing world views. Ethically, I could not ignore the historic impact of the event. At the same time, I did not want to indulge in the jingoistic sensationalist frenzy playing out in the media. Who's Armegeddon is it anyway?
I was compelled to make these paintings after September 11th. I was fascinated by the image of United Airlines Flight 175 caught on video seconds before it vaporized into its target - captured in time - living on in endless spectacular replays in the news. I contemplated how the event continues to exist as a horrific afterimage in the collective memory - replaying over and over again in the media and in the dimension of thought.
The ghost plane is the central image in all of the paintings in this series. These oil and wax paintings, are visceral descriptions of Flight 175 as I conceptualize it, trapped within the space time continuum, like a prehistoric fly suspended in amber. I have painted and over-painted the image of the plane until it started to resonate from the materiality of the black paint itself. Eventually a platonic idea of the plane became embedded in the paint - an accumulation of hundreds of layers of painted planes, emerging visually out of a black nothing, shifting and shaking into discernable forms. These paintings function as mnemonic snap shots. They are slow to see and become clearer the longer they are looked at.
Measurements: 81.28 x 121.92 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 2001
Materials: oil, latex, wax on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Monkey Man
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51410
Description:
Measurements:
Collection:
Date Made: 2002
Materials: oil, latex, wax on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA
![Monkey Man, [installation view, Fly Gallery, Toronto]](https://ccca.art/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/joh085.jpg)
Monkey Man, [installation view, Fly Gallery, Toronto]
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51411
Description:
Measurements:
Collection:
Date Made: 2002
Materials:
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

The moment-9-11/ ghost plane / angel of death
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51408
Description:
Measurements: 203.2 x 241.3 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 2002
Materials: oil, latex, wax on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA
![The moment-9-11/ ghost plane / angel of death, [detail]](https://ccca.art/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/joh083.jpg)
The moment-9-11/ ghost plane / angel of death, [detail]
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51409
Description:
Measurements: 203.2 x 241.3 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 2002
Materials: oil, latex, wax on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Gunning for Saddam
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51412
Description: Live from Baghdad, The Cameron, Toronto, Jan. 2003
The paintings in this show are portraits of ideas playing out in the media, focusing on the recent renewed interest in nuclear war. CNN and Newsworld provide the landscape from which the omnipotent force of America and its allies pose and gesticulate, basking in the gaze of history.
I have stolen images from the public domain of broadcasting. Some of the faces will be familiar, however the intent is not to focus on nor criticise the individuals represented. The intent is to see the hierarchy of information bites in the tv media as a visual dance of the rites of war. By enhancing the images with the sensuous quality of oil paint, I want to turn these flickering media images into portraits of this moment, captured and remade into objects of beauty, and displayed on the "cave walls" of the Cameron.
Measurements: 91.44 x 121.92 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 2003
Materials: oil, wax on paper, mounted on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

George Bush
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51414
Description: Live from Baghdad, The Cameron, Toronto, Jan. 2003
The paintings in this show are portraits of ideas playing out in the media, focusing on the recent renewed interest in nuclear war. CNN and Newsworld provide the landscape from which the omnipotent force of America and its allies pose and gesticulate, basking in the gaze of history.
I have stolen images from the public domain of broadcasting. Some of the faces will be familiar, however the intent is not to focus on nor criticise the individuals represented. The intent is to see the hierarchy of information bites in the tv media as a visual dance of the rites of war. By enhancing the images with the sensuous quality of oil paint, I want to turn these flickering media images into portraits of this moment, captured and remade into objects of beauty, and displayed on the "cave walls" of the Cameron.
Measurements: 91.44 x 121.92 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 2003
Materials: oil, wax on paper, mounted on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Live from Baghdad
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51415
Description: Live from Baghdad, The Cameron, Toronto, Jan. 2003
The paintings in this show are portraits of ideas playing out in the media, focusing on the recent renewed interest in nuclear war. CNN and Newsworld provide the landscape from which the omnipotent force of America and its allies pose and gesticulate, basking in the gaze of history.
I have stolen images from the public domain of broadcasting. Some of the faces will be familiar, however the intent is not to focus on nor criticise the individuals represented. The intent is to see the hierarchy of information bites in the tv media as a visual dance of the rites of war. By enhancing the images with the sensuous quality of oil paint, I want to turn these flickering media images into portraits of this moment, captured and remade into objects of beauty, and displayed on the "cave walls" of the Cameron.
Measurements: 121.92 x 91.44 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 2003
Materials: oil, wax on paper, mounted on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Axis of Evil
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51416
Description: Live from Baghdad, The Cameron, Toronto, Jan. 2003
The paintings in this show are portraits of ideas playing out in the media, focusing on the recent renewed interest in nuclear war. CNN and Newsworld provide the landscape from which the omnipotent force of America and its allies pose and gesticulate, basking in the gaze of history.
I have stolen images from the public domain of broadcasting. Some of the faces will be familiar, however the intent is not to focus on nor criticise the individuals represented. The intent is to see the hierarchy of information bites in the tv media as a visual dance of the rites of war. By enhancing the images with the sensuous quality of oil paint, I want to turn these flickering media images into portraits of this moment, captured and remade into objects of beauty, and displayed on the "cave walls" of the Cameron.
Measurements: 91.44 x 121.92 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 2003
Materials: oil, wax on paper, mounted on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Nuclear Threats
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 51413
Description: Live from Baghdad, The Cameron, Toronto, Jan. 2003
The paintings in this show are portraits of ideas playing out in the media, focusing on the recent renewed interest in nuclear war. CNN and Newsworld provide the landscape from which the omnipotent force of America and its allies pose and gesticulate, basking in the gaze of history.
I have stolen images from the public domain of broadcasting. Some of the faces will be familiar, however the intent is not to focus on nor criticise the individuals represented. The intent is to see the hierarchy of information bites in the tv media as a visual dance of the rites of war. By enhancing the images with the sensuous quality of oil paint, I want to turn these flickering media images into portraits of this moment, captured and remade into objects of beauty, and displayed on the "cave walls" of the Cameron.
Measurements: 91.44 x 121.92 cm/po
Collection:
Date Made: 2003
Materials: oil, wax on paper, mounted on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Was she dead…? #2
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 71360
Description: "Beautiful Dead Girls", or "Sleeping Beauty"
These paintings are contemplations on current ideals of beauty and desire, taken from the entertainment media, embedded in the timeless theme of Sex and Death.
In this series of work, I have concentrated on capturing television images of the "pretend" female corpse. The centre piece of the wildly popular forensic crime show genre, she belongs in the same category with Sleeping Beauty, Hamlet's Ophelia, Persephone and all mythical figures of feminine passivity in the extreme.
The current version of the ravaged heroine, is a fetishistic creature of contemporary lust and revulsion portraying a particular kind of Beauty œ motionless, mute, and dead œ a mortiferous object on which to project the collective fears and desires of the viewing public. The banal ugliness of brutality is glamourized in scenes of artfully constructed fictions blurring reality with fantasies of fear, repulsion and desire.
Removed from reality and elegantly restaged, the Brutal is somehow made Aesthetic. Images of Horror are made Beautiful. These paintings are intended to be visually beautiful
and at the same time, subtly disturbing. They are reflections of artificially constructed images of eroticism and death in popular entertainment culture.
This work was created at the Banff Centre for the Arts. The landscape elements are Albertan mountains and skies interrupted by highways and factories. The figurative elements are taken from broadcast television.
Measurements: 111.76 x 152.4 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2005
Materials: digitally created image, over-painted with cold wax medium and oil paint, printed on canvas
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Head/Clouds
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 71355
Description: "Beautiful Dead Girls", or "Sleeping Beauty"
These paintings are contemplations on current ideals of beauty and desire, taken from the entertainment media, embedded in the timeless theme of Sex and Death.
In this series of work, I have concentrated on capturing television images of the "pretend" female corpse. The centre piece of the wildly popular forensic crime show genre, she belongs in the same category with Sleeping Beauty, Hamlet's Ophelia, Persephone and all mythical figures of feminine passivity in the extreme.
The current version of the ravaged heroine, is a fetishistic creature of contemporary lust and revulsion portraying a particular kind of Beauty œ motionless, mute, and dead œ a mortiferous object on which to project the collective fears and desires of the viewing public. The banal ugliness of brutality is glamourized in scenes of artfully constructed fictions blurring reality with fantasies of fear, repulsion and desire.
Removed from reality and elegantly restaged, the Brutal is somehow made Aesthetic. Images of Horror are made Beautiful. These paintings are intended to be visually beautiful
and at the same time, subtly disturbing. They are reflections of artificially constructed images of eroticism and death in popular entertainment culture.
This work was created at the Banff Centre for the Arts. The landscape elements are Albertan mountains and skies interrupted by highways and factories. The figurative elements are taken from broadcast television.
Measurements: 60.96 x 76.2 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2005
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Head/Tornado
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 71363
Description: "Beautiful Dead Girls", or "Sleeping Beauty"
These paintings are contemplations on current ideals of beauty and desire, taken from the entertainment media, embedded in the timeless theme of Sex and Death.
In this series of work, I have concentrated on capturing television images of the "pretend" female corpse. The centre piece of the wildly popular forensic crime show genre, she belongs in the same category with Sleeping Beauty, Hamlet's Ophelia, Persephone and all mythical figures of feminine passivity in the extreme.
The current version of the ravaged heroine, is a fetishistic creature of contemporary lust and revulsion portraying a particular kind of Beauty œ motionless, mute, and dead œ a mortiferous object on which to project the collective fears and desires of the viewing public. The banal ugliness of brutality is glamourized in scenes of artfully constructed fictions blurring reality with fantasies of fear, repulsion and desire.
Removed from reality and elegantly restaged, the Brutal is somehow made Aesthetic. Images of Horror are made Beautiful. These paintings are intended to be visually beautiful
and at the same time, subtly disturbing. They are reflections of artificially constructed images of eroticism and death in popular entertainment culture.
This work was created at the Banff Centre for the Arts. The landscape elements are Albertan mountains and skies interrupted by highways and factories. The figurative elements are taken from broadcast television.
Measurements: 101.6 x 167.64 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2005
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Disinterred Girl
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 71358
Description: "Beautiful Dead Girls", or "Sleeping Beauty"
These paintings are contemplations on current ideals of beauty and desire, taken from the entertainment media, embedded in the timeless theme of Sex and Death.
In this series of work, I have concentrated on capturing television images of the "pretend" female corpse. The centre piece of the wildly popular forensic crime show genre, she belongs in the same category with Sleeping Beauty, Hamlet's Ophelia, Persephone and all mythical figures of feminine passivity in the extreme.
The current version of the ravaged heroine, is a fetishistic creature of contemporary lust and revulsion portraying a particular kind of Beauty œ motionless, mute, and dead œ a mortiferous object on which to project the collective fears and desires of the viewing public. The banal ugliness of brutality is glamourized in scenes of artfully constructed fictions blurring reality with fantasies of fear, repulsion and desire.
Removed from reality and elegantly restaged, the Brutal is somehow made Aesthetic. Images of Horror are made Beautiful. These paintings are intended to be visually beautiful
and at the same time, subtly disturbing. They are reflections of artificially constructed images of eroticism and death in popular entertainment culture.
This work was created at the Banff Centre for the Arts. The landscape elements are Albertan mountains and skies interrupted by highways and factories. The figurative elements are taken from broadcast television.
Measurements: 60.96 x 76.2 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2005
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Sunst/Bullet Hole
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 71361
Description: "Beautiful Dead Girls", or "Sleeping Beauty"
These paintings are contemplations on current ideals of beauty and desire, taken from the entertainment media, embedded in the timeless theme of Sex and Death.
In this series of work, I have concentrated on capturing television images of the "pretend" female corpse. The centre piece of the wildly popular forensic crime show genre, she belongs in the same category with Sleeping Beauty, Hamlet's Ophelia, Persephone and all mythical figures of feminine passivity in the extreme.
The current version of the ravaged heroine, is a fetishistic creature of contemporary lust and revulsion portraying a particular kind of Beauty œ motionless, mute, and dead œ a mortiferous object on which to project the collective fears and desires of the viewing public. The banal ugliness of brutality is glamourized in scenes of artfully constructed fictions blurring reality with fantasies of fear, repulsion and desire.
Removed from reality and elegantly restaged, the Brutal is somehow made Aesthetic. Images of Horror are made Beautiful. These paintings are intended to be visually beautiful
and at the same time, subtly disturbing. They are reflections of artificially constructed images of eroticism and death in popular entertainment culture.
This work was created at the Banff Centre for the Arts. The landscape elements are Albertan mountains and skies interrupted by highways and factories. The figurative elements are taken from broadcast television.
Measurements: 101.6 x 167.64 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2005
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Head/Banff Highway
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 71362
Description: "Beautiful Dead Girls", or "Sleeping Beauty"
These paintings are contemplations on current ideals of beauty and desire, taken from the entertainment media, embedded in the timeless theme of Sex and Death.
In this series of work, I have concentrated on capturing television images of the "pretend" female corpse. The centre piece of the wildly popular forensic crime show genre, she belongs in the same category with Sleeping Beauty, Hamlet's Ophelia, Persephone and all mythical figures of feminine passivity in the extreme.
The current version of the ravaged heroine, is a fetishistic creature of contemporary lust and revulsion portraying a particular kind of Beauty á motionless, mute, and dead á a mortiferous object on which to project the collective fears and desires of the viewing public. The banal ugliness of brutality is glamourized in scenes of artfully constructed fictions blurring reality with fantasies of fear, repulsion and desire.
Removed from reality and elegantly restaged, the Brutal is somehow made Aesthetic. Images of Horror are made Beautiful. These paintings are intended to be visually beautiful
and at the same time, subtly disturbing. They are reflections of artificially constructed images of eroticism and death in popular entertainment culture.
This work was created at the Banff Centre for the Arts. The landscape elements are Albertan mountains and skies interrupted by highways and factories. The figurative elements are taken from broadcast television.
Measurements: 101.6 x 142.24 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2005
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Decomposing Head
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 71356
Description: "Beautiful Dead Girls", or "Sleeping Beauty"
These paintings are contemplations on current ideals of beauty and desire, taken from the entertainment media, embedded in the timeless theme of Sex and Death.
In this series of work, I have concentrated on capturing television images of the "pretend" female corpse. The centre piece of the wildly popular forensic crime show genre, she belongs in the same category with Sleeping Beauty, Hamlet's Ophelia, Persephone and all mythical figures of feminine passivity in the extreme.
The current version of the ravaged heroine, is a fetishistic creature of contemporary lust and revulsion portraying a particular kind of Beauty œ motionless, mute, and dead œ a mortiferous object on which to project the collective fears and desires of the viewing public. The banal ugliness of brutality is glamourized in scenes of artfully constructed fictions blurring reality with fantasies of fear, repulsion and desire.
Removed from reality and elegantly restaged, the Brutal is somehow made Aesthetic. Images of Horror are made Beautiful. These paintings are intended to be visually beautiful
and at the same time, subtly disturbing. They are reflections of artificially constructed images of eroticism and death in popular entertainment culture.
This work was created at the Banff Centre for the Arts. The landscape elements are Albertan mountains and skies interrupted by highways and factories. The figurative elements are taken from broadcast television.
Measurements: 60.96 x 76.2 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2005
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Cement Head
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 71357
Description: "Beautiful Dead Girls", or "Sleeping Beauty"
These paintings are contemplations on current ideals of beauty and desire, taken from the entertainment media, embedded in the timeless theme of Sex and Death.
In this series of work, I have concentrated on capturing television images of the "pretend" female corpse. The centre piece of the wildly popular forensic crime show genre, she belongs in the same category with Sleeping Beauty, Hamlet's Ophelia, Persephone and all mythical figures of feminine passivity in the extreme.
The current version of the ravaged heroine, is a fetishistic creature of contemporary lust and revulsion portraying a particular kind of Beauty œ motionless, mute, and dead œ a mortiferous object on which to project the collective fears and desires of the viewing public. The banal ugliness of brutality is glamourized in scenes of artfully constructed fictions blurring reality with fantasies of fear, repulsion and desire.
Removed from reality and elegantly restaged, the Brutal is somehow made Aesthetic. Images of Horror are made Beautiful. These paintings are intended to be visually beautiful
and at the same time, subtly disturbing. They are reflections of artificially constructed images of eroticism and death in popular entertainment culture.
This work was created at the Banff Centre for the Arts. The landscape elements are Albertan mountains and skies interrupted by highways and factories. The figurative elements are taken from broadcast television.
Measurements: 60.96 x 76.2 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2005
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Man Shot
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 71365
Description: "Beautiful Dead Girls", or "Sleeping Beauty"
These paintings are contemplations on current ideals of beauty and desire, taken from the entertainment media, embedded in the timeless theme of Sex and Death.
In this series of work, I have concentrated on capturing television images of the "pretend" female corpse. The centre piece of the wildly popular forensic crime show genre, she belongs in the same category with Sleeping Beauty, Hamlet's Ophelia, Persephone and all mythical figures of feminine passivity in the extreme.
The current version of the ravaged heroine, is a fetishistic creature of contemporary lust and revulsion portraying a particular kind of Beauty œ motionless, mute, and dead œ a mortiferous object on which to project the collective fears and desires of the viewing public. The banal ugliness of brutality is glamourized in scenes of artfully constructed fictions blurring reality with fantasies of fear, repulsion and desire.
Removed from reality and elegantly restaged, the Brutal is somehow made Aesthetic. Images of Horror are made Beautiful. These paintings are intended to be visually beautiful
and at the same time, subtly disturbing. They are reflections of artificially constructed images of eroticism and death in popular entertainment culture.
This work was created at the Banff Centre for the Arts. The landscape elements are Albertan mountains and skies interrupted by highways and factories. The figurative elements are taken from broadcast television.
Measurements: 60.96 x 76.2 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2005
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Was she dead…?
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 71359
Description: "Beautiful Dead Girls", or "Sleeping Beauty"
These paintings are contemplations on current ideals of beauty and desire, taken from the entertainment media, embedded in the timeless theme of Sex and Death.
In this series of work, I have concentrated on capturing television images of the "pretend" female corpse. The centre piece of the wildly popular forensic crime show genre, she belongs in the same category with Sleeping Beauty, Hamlet's Ophelia, Persephone and all mythical figures of feminine passivity in the extreme.
The current version of the ravaged heroine, is a fetishistic creature of contemporary lust and revulsion portraying a particular kind of Beauty œ motionless, mute, and dead œ a mortiferous object on which to project the collective fears and desires of the viewing public. The banal ugliness of brutality is glamourized in scenes of artfully constructed fictions blurring reality with fantasies of fear, repulsion and desire.
Removed from reality and elegantly restaged, the Brutal is somehow made Aesthetic. Images of Horror are made Beautiful. These paintings are intended to be visually beautiful
and at the same time, subtly disturbing. They are reflections of artificially constructed images of eroticism and death in popular entertainment culture.
This work was created at the Banff Centre for the Arts. The landscape elements are Albertan mountains and skies interrupted by highways and factories. The figurative elements are taken from broadcast television.
Measurements: 60.96 x 76.2 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2005
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Bathtub Head
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 71364
Description: "Beautiful Dead Girls", or "Sleeping Beauty"
These paintings are contemplations on current ideals of beauty and desire, taken from the entertainment media, embedded in the timeless theme of Sex and Death.
In this series of work, I have concentrated on capturing television images of the "pretend" female corpse. The centre piece of the wildly popular forensic crime show genre, she belongs in the same category with Sleeping Beauty, Hamlet's Ophelia, Persephone and all mythical figures of feminine passivity in the extreme.
The current version of the ravaged heroine, is a fetishistic creature of contemporary lust and revulsion portraying a particular kind of Beauty œ motionless, mute, and dead œ a mortiferous object on which to project the collective fears and desires of the viewing public. The banal ugliness of brutality is glamourized in scenes of artfully constructed fictions blurring reality with fantasies of fear, repulsion and desire.
Removed from reality and elegantly restaged, the Brutal is somehow made Aesthetic. Images of Horror are made Beautiful. These paintings are intended to be visually beautiful
and at the same time, subtly disturbing. They are reflections of artificially constructed images of eroticism and death in popular entertainment culture.
This work was created at the Banff Centre for the Arts. The landscape elements are Albertan mountains and skies interrupted by highways and factories. The figurative elements are taken from broadcast television.
Measurements: 121.92 x 101.6 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2005
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Selkirk – Golden Field
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 74493
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 213.36 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2007
Materials: oil on wood panel, braced
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Selkirk – August Clouds
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 74496
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 213.36 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2007
Materials: oil on wood panel, braced
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Selkirk – Side Road
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 74492
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 243.84 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2007
Materials: oil on wood panel, braced
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Selkirk – Furrows
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 74494
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 243.84 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2007
Materials: oil on wood panel, braced
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Selkirk – Ground Shadows
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 74495
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 243.84 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2007
Materials: oil on wood panel, braced
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Selkirk – Tornados
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 74497
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 213.36 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2008
Materials: oil on wood panel, braced
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Selkirk – Field & Pond
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 74498
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 213.36 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2008
Materials: oil on wood panel, braced
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Storm – Lake Winnipeg
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 74499
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 213.36 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2008
Materials: oil on wood panel, braced
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Green Aurora
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 74501
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 213.36 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2008
Materials: oil on wood panel, braced
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Green Swoop
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 74500
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 243.84 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2008
Materials: oil on wood panel, braced
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Northern Lights Winter
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 74503
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 243.84 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2009
Materials: oil on wood panel, braced
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Funnel Aurora
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 74504
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 243.84 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2009
Materials: oil on wood panel, braced
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA

Cosmic Aurora
Artist: Rae Johnson
Work ID: 74502
Description:
Measurements: 182.88 x 213.36 cm
Collection:
Date Made: 2009
Materials: oil on wood panel, braced
Virtual Collection: Original CCCA