Rena Bransten is pleased to present EIRIK JOHNSON: PINE, an exhibition of photographs of carvings in tree trunks with an accompanying sound installation. This exhibition coincides with the release of Johnson’s monograph of the same name.

The etched trees capture both the angst and magic of adolescence – affirmations of existence, band names, cherished lyrics, the passions of first love – and Johnson commemorates and alters these private, isolated moments of damage. Shot at night using long exposures and illuminated in combinations of fire, moonlight, sparklers, and prismatic light, the photographs are bathed in hyperreal color, connecting the small gesture of rebellion to a time-honored tradition of mankind leaving a mark. 

Many of the images will be presented as lightboxes, and the installation will include original music by musicians responding to different photographs, enforcing Johnson’s relationship to his own youth and memories of cherished mixed tapes.

Eirik Johnson is a Seattle-based photographer and mixed-media artist. He has exhibited his work at spaces including the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and the Aperture Foundation in New York.  He has received numerous awards including the Neddy at Cornish Award in Open Medium (2012), a Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant (2009), the Santa Fe Prize (2005), and a William J. Fulbright Grant to Peru (2000).  His work is in the permanent collections of institutions including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Seattle Art Museum, and the George Eastman House, Rochester, NY.  His first book Borderlands was published by Twin Palms Press in 2005. His second monograph Sawdust Mountain was published by Aperture in 2009. Minor Matters Books will publish his forthcoming monographPINE. Johnson’s editorial work has appeared in publications including the New York Times Magazine, California Sunday Magazine, Travel+Leisure, Metropolis, Dwell, Audubon, Pacific Standard, GQ, and the Wall Street Journal. Johnson serves as Programs Chair at the Photographic Center Northwest and affiliate faculty at the University of Washington.  He is also a member of the Piece of Cake Collective, a photographers' cooperative based both in North America and Europe.