New Paris paintings by Mitchell Johnson on display at Flea Street
Mitchell Johnson’s new paintings of Paris are on display at Flea Street (3607 Alameda de las Pulgas) in Menlo Park through August 26. He provides the back story:
“I did a television interview with MonacoInfo during the museum retrospective in Cap d’Ail, and they asked what I planned to do next, and I blurted out, ‘I think I’m going to rent an apartment in Paris.’ We found a place in the 11th arrondissement, Rue de Nice, with amazing light and large windows that looked out on characteristic Paris rooflines and chimney pots, but also a park and contemporary architecture.
“The building facade by our kitchen window changed appearance constantly with a range of soft and harsh Paris light. This singular light had already appeared in a number of my paintings from 2020 to 2024. My frequent walks down to the Seine, crossing the Pont de Sully, watching the river match the green iron railing one day and appear black another, looping through the Luxembourg and coming back through the Marais, I began to see paintings everywhere in places I hadn’t been noticing. I took photos and made occasional drawings. I collaged different times of day into single paintings in order to get the color I was after, but also a calmness to resolve my feelings of being overwhelmed by the city’s appearance.
“I had a pop-up exhibit in March in the Marais. Just before giving up the apartment in June, I had a solo exhibit at Galerie Mercier in the 7th, two blocks from where [Edward] Hopper had lived on Rue de Lille in 1906. I rode the metro regularly from Charonne to St. Germaine des Pres delivering things to the gallery, carrying paintings of Paris, but also some of San Francisco, Truro, New York City, and Newfoundland that were made in Paris.
“The more intimate relationship with Paris opened doors to new color possibilities in everything I worked on. It was a transformative year in which I barely went to the museums, determined to find my own response to the city itself.”
Shown here: Luxembourg Boats 2025, 20×30 inches, oil on canvas
