The current major commission is from National Museums Liverpool to create a portrait of the city at an important time in its history. It has recently been added to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites and in 2008 will be European Capital of Culture.The project has been co-commissioned with the Liverpool Culture Company and Professor Phil Redmond CBE & Mrs Alexis Redmond.
The artist will take up residency at the Walker Art Gallery to finish the Liverpool Cityscape in front of a live audience from 28 January to 7 March 2008.
The exhibition 'Ben Johnson's Liverpool Cityscape 2008 and the World Panorama Series' will form part of the city's celebrations as European Capital of Culture from 24th May to 2nd November at the Walker Art Gallery.
The exhibition will consist of panoramas of Jerusalem, Zurich and Hong Kong and paintings representing Chicago and Paris. These are part of an ongoing project started in 1994 and represent the equivalent of 44 years work, as Johnson creates these paintings in a Renaissance-like studio using highly specialist assistants. This will be the first time that these works are exhibited together.
This is the Press Release from National Museums Liverpool: download Press Release
For further information please click www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/benjohnson
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Please click on the images above to view a larger version.
Publications
Completing a 30-year project painting and documenting Norman Foster's
architecture, resulting in a book to be published in the near future.
The
People's Panorama
The
Website
To view the People's Panorama visit thepeoplespanorama.com
The
backround
I have for the last 10 years concentrated the majority of my work into
making large city panoramas. So far I have painted Hong Kong, Jerusalem
and Zurich. Currently my studio is working on the largest and most complex
painting to date – the commission by the National Museums of Liverpool
of a Liverpool Cityscape to become an icon for the city and the celebrations
in 2008 when Liverpool will be European Capital of Culture. This painting
will take 3 years for myself and 6 assistants. The drawing alone represents
4 years of full-time concentrated work for a single draughtsperson. Each
building is analysed and reconstructed on an individual basis. Given
this intense and concentrated project spanning 36 months, when approached
by The Big Draw to participate in this year’s launch at Somerset House
I took on the challenge of producing, in just a few days, a drawn panorama
of London made by over a thousand people of all ages and from all walks
of life.
The project
I took a panoramic photograph of London from the top of Canary Wharf tower.
This image was divided into 1280 squares measuring 3 inches or 76.2 mm
each. Each square was reproduced on the left hand side of an A4 sheet
of paper. On the right hand side of the sheet was a blank square. The
idea was to draw with an HB pencil the image on the left hand side in
the blank square on the right. (Some of the surrounding area was shown
to help a little.) Every drawing was then cut out of the A4 sheet and
pasted in its correct position onto a panel to recreate the panorama as
a drawing. The drawn image is on 5 panels and measures 4 ft x 20 ft or
1.22 x 6.10 metres in total. All participants received a stamped certificate.
After Somerset House the panorama moved to The Museum of London for four
days and many contributors returned to see the work develop and reach
its completion. The project was made with huge enthusiasm. There was a
great sense of concentration as people did their individual squares and
then a sense of pride at being part of a collective experience. There
was not one bad drawing among them and each was unique and special to
the person that made it. Even the initially reluctant surprised themselves
and many people’s enthusiasm to do multiple squares had to be restrained.
It truly is The People’s Panorama. Although the work is in my studio at
the moment I am hoping it will reach the public realm where it may be
able to be seen by a wider audience. Watch this space for the next stage
in its progress.
Click Here to download the PDF version.
Check this space for more updates.
