Undisclosed Locations
May 30 - June 17, 2023
Reception: Friday, June 2nd, 5-7pm.
Strata Gallery presents Undisclosed Locations, by California based artist Grant Johnson. The exhibition opens May 30th, with a special reception on June 2nd from 5-7pm.
Undisclosed Locations is a show of photographs of very unique environments. Because of the fragile nature of these Locations and the wide reach of the internet and social media, the artist has chosen not to disclose their locations. These undisclosed locations all lie in the Western United States. Many are extreme examples of the erosive forces of wind and water, unusual combinations of minerals and layering that result in spectacular color variations or unique circumstances resulting from volcanism. Three of the locations are near, or in, hydrocarbon and mineral exploration and extraction sites. One is a training facility for Mars exploration and habitation. Some images were made during ground truthing expeditions after discovering the locations from the air. A few are satellite mosaics of hundreds of satellite paths and rows composited to produce a single high-resolution landscape image.
Grant Johnson graduated from the University of Arizona in 1972 and from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1975. He has been photographing the western United States since that time. Johnson worked for The Nature Conservancy for twenty years covering California and Hawaii. During that time, he has witnessed the advent of social media and the destructive effect of increased sightseeing that has resulted from GPS coordinates of nearly everything being posted, providing unfettered access to all even those bent on destruction and vandalism.
Our natural world is now changing rapidly. Fires and extreme weather events are altering familiar terrains, transforming forests, flooding lowlands and accelerating erosion that otherwise would have taken centuries. Johnson feels very grateful to have been privileged to visit and photograph these unique locations.
Grant Johnson, 2021-11-20_0074, Dye-sub print on aluminum panel, 40 x 60
Grant Johnson, 1989-05-00_1418, Dye-sub print on aluminum panel, 20 x 30 inches
Grant Johnson, 2022-06-10_0270, Dye-sub print on aluminum panel, 40 x 60 inches