PRESS RELEASE
Johnston Foster
“Darken Your Doorstep”
Stumptown Coffee Roasters 212b Pacific Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
On view Nov. 9th 2023 to March 4th 2024 6:30am to 5pm Daily
Johnston Foster is pleased to present a new body of work this November 9th titled “Darken Your Doorstep” as part of the Stumptown Coffee Roasters quarterly artist series in Brooklyn, NY. On view will be five all new wall mounted sculptures created in Foster’s Nova Scotia studio during the past year. Pushing his exploration of found and repurposed wooden furniture to its furthest limit yet, the result is an intimate and intense installation where inanimate objects buzz with energy and perceived kinetic potential. Foster’s objects create a loose narrative featuring a menagerie of creatures and anatomical inspired objects. His approach is a tactile, improvised alchemy, and a detailed hands on approach informed by a childhood of treehouse and skateboard ramp construction. His practice is fuelled by an intense wonder and gratitude for the profoundness and exuberance of existence.
"The Loner" 2023, 96" x 29" x 46" 2023 (wall mounted) Found wooden furniture, glass, marble, drywall screws. $39,000 USD
For nearly 25 years, Johnston Foster’s signature approach has been his exploration of found object assemblage. Pulling from his immense inventory of salvaged/repurposed objects and materials obsessively collected and inventoried, Foster has created a body of work that has reduced the sculptural medium of his production exclusively of materials and objects that are discarded and destined for the landfill.
“From Hell to Breakfast” 2023, 90”x16”x53” (wall mounted) Found wooden furniture, car tires, glass marble, drywall screws. $34,000 USD
The objects created present open narratives and meditations on natural and creative processes and humankind’s inherent connection and coexistence to the natural world. Finding inspiration in humankind’s ingenuity and folly, Foster’s singular, analog, and rough hewn aesthetic aspires towards an art form that is both life affirming, cautionary and humble.
“The Drum” 2023, 28.5”x19”x40” (wall mounted) Found wood furniture and drywall screws. $13,500 USD
Foster’s initial attraction to rubbish and the discarded was its abundance, accessibility and variety of form, texture and malleability. The artist’s hands on manipulation and transformation of the materials reveal new levels of meaning and content. Foster could not ignore the history, experience and energy each material and object contained.
“Out of the Dirt, Into the Sky” 2023, 72”x18”x84” (wall mounted) Found wooden furniture, leather upholstery, glass marble, drywall screws. $28,000 USD
Foster’s sculptural focus on discarded and broken furniture may seem arbitrary in choice and selection but the many styles of furniture are varied from unique, antique, and fine crafted objects to massed produced, cheaply manufactured varieties. The multitude of species of wood and exotic locations from which they are harvested and exported are imbued with a highly energized cluster of both global and personal histories. Foster’s material of choice and in turn his creations reflect on our environmental crossroads, globalization, notions of craft and the consequences of uninhibited consumerism. These assemblages are meant to inspire a sense of magic and wonder but also offer critical self reflection.
“Empty Windows” 2021 70”x11”x19” (wall mounted) Found wood furniture, drywall screws. $11,000 USD
Johnston Foster was born in 1978 in South Boston, Virginia USA. He studied sculpture at Virginia Commonwealth University (BFA), Hunter College (MFA) and the Skowhegan School Art. He’s shown his work internationally in galleries and museums for the past 20 years and is part of art collections across North America, South America and Europe. He resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia with his wife Amie Cunningham and their three sons Wolfgang, Dutch and Viggo. When he is not collecting junk and screwing it together, skateboarding and reading comic books he is doing his best to remember he is merely a drop of transcendent energy in a cosmic ocean 13.8 billion years old.
For additional image inquiries contact the artist directly at: johnstonfoster@yahoo.com