Opening reception: September 6th |  6 - 8pm

Altman Siegel is pleased to present Ruminations, Meditations, and The Homeostasis, Chris Johanson's third solo exhibition at the gallery. For over twenty-five years, Johanson has been captivating audiences around the world with his thoughtful and vibrant reflections of everyday life and the human condition. A central figure of San Francisco's Mission School, Johanson's multidimensional practice encompasses painting, drawing, sculpture, installation and music. For Ruminations, Meditations, and The Homeostasis, Johanson traverses years of his art-making life, gleaning disparate influences to illuminate life's complexities. The resulting works touch on universal themes including spirituality, sociology and environmental observation.

In a departure from previous bodies of work, which were painted on found and recycled wood, Johanson will show stretched-canvas paintings, originated from studio drop cloths. The portable nature of the material aligns with Johanson's subject matter; human faces, animals, interiors and landscapes appear in motion across the paintings' organic surfaces. Color reveals its many hues through layering and thinning processes, resulting in abstractions that reveal and narrate the compositions. Johanson's paintings position themselves as conceptually open–fluid to interpretations and inviting conversation. Canvases of various sizes and subject matter are on view in gallery one, each wall paired with a chair to invite time and encourage intimacy.

In gallery two, Johanson presents Group Art Show with Self Connectivity, an exhibition within the show consisting of Johanson's art as well as unique objects by artists including Chris Corales, Dana Dart-McLean, Tom Greenwood, Frank Haines, Johanna Jackson, David Korty, Jason Meadows, Ruby Neri, William Passarelli, Will Rogan, Lisa Sitko, Torbjörn Vejvi, among others. The small objects–ceramics, metal sculptures, clothing, lights, fliers for various shows and concerts–all share an inexpensive commonality and push aside a consumerist agenda to advocate art for art's sake. A reproduction of Johanson's kitchen table in his Silverlake house acts like a pedestal for numerous art editions by various artists from 2009 onward. The table becomes a time capsule, offering a loose narrative tracing the artist's creative life. Gallery three will contain a memorial mural painted directly on the wall and dedicated to Johanson's close friend, Chris Corales.

Chris Johanson (b. 1968) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Recent solo exhibitions include: the Journal Gallery, Brooklyn (collaboration with Johanna Jackson); Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York; Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen; The Conversation, Berlin; Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, Philadelphia (collaboration with Johanna Jackson); Portland Museum of Modern Art; The Modern Institute, Glasgow; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; MoCA Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Malmö Konsthall. Group exhibitions include: Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, San Francisco; Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles; Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland; Benaki Museum, Athens; Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto; Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara; Whitney Biennial, New York; Berlin Biennial, Berlin; Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul; New Museum, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; White Columns, New York; the Drawing Center, New York; Deste Foundation, Athens; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; SITE Santa Fe; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; Seattle Art Museum; Vancouver Art Gallery; CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco. Johanson is a member of the band Sun Foot, which recently toured in collaboration with fellow artist Lonnie Holley. Chris Johanson, a monograph published by Phaidon in 2014, features texts by Bob Nickas, Corrina Peipon and Julie Deamer and is available for sale at Altman Siegel.

Captain J Rab will play a live music set at the opening and an unlimited edition poster, designed in collaboration with Colpa Press, will be available at the gallery.