Angela Johal

Angela Johal grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 60s and 70s.  Her smooth, pristine,  geometric and hard edge paintings are reflective of the California hard edge and psychedelic  artists, textile designs and music from that period.  In 1985, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts  degree in Painting from San Jose State University and currently paints full time in her San  Francisco Bay Area studio. 

Johal calls her paintings Chromesthetic Geometrics because they are created in  accompaniment to music where both together react directly upon the emotions, where there is  a blending of the senses, a chromesthetic experience where heard sounds evoke an experience  of color on the canvas.  She believes that it is possible for the viewer to experience sound when  they view her paintings.  Many of her paintings are titled after musical terminology. 

It is important to her that her paintings be truthful.  “I want the flatness of the painting and color  to be the subject, which is reflective of the Colorfield painters.  My goal is to create illusions of 3D  space with mainly flat color.  I used to feel that my illusions were false when I painted in a realistic  manner.  My paintings also have a slight Op effect, which helps to create a movement and  rhythm .” 

The artistic process begins with drawing multiple sketches or cutting and arranging shapes and  gluing them down on paper until she is satisfied with the composition, one that is balanced and  energetic.  A final plan is drawn up with dimensions and transferred to a sanded canvas using  straight edges, templates or compasses.   She uses heavy body acrylics while applying varying  widths of tape onto the canvas to achieve a neat, hard edge.  Halo effects form on the edge  where two colors meet,  similar to the effects of the early Pointillist painters.  The painting  process involves little planning as colors appear randomly.  She likes to “risk all” and allow the  music to influence her color choices intuitively.  “It’s like a puzzle, a balancing act and sometimes  I purposely add a toxic color halfway just to challenge myself where I then have to save it from  disaster.  This, strangely enough, usually improves the painting, making it less predictable.  The  viewer keeps looking for a color pattern and keeps looking, but can’t find one.”   This is most  intriguing to her painting process, to keep the viewer rhythmically moving about her work which  she believes, has a calming effect. 

Geometric shapes appear in most of Johal’s work because she believes that these shapes are  easily understood by people of all ages, races, nations and cultures and speak to everyone, can  be easily understood by some and very complicated to others.  “Geometric shapes are a  balance between the world that is visible and the world that is invisible.  They reach beyond  what the eye can see.” 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

 

2018    Angela Johal:  Painting, Clorox Building Lobby, Oakland, CA

            Curated by Slate Art Consulting, Oakland, CA

            Chromesthetic Geometrics: Bay Area Metro Center First Floor Atrium Lobby       

             In partnership with SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2017    Slate Contemporary Hall Gallery: New Geometrics Exhibit, Oakland, CA

2016    101 Second St. Lobby, San Francisco, CA

2015    Accumulations: Collages by Angela Johal + Sculptures by Bean Finneran,

            SLATE Contemporary, Oakland, CA

2014    Beyond Consumerism: The Body Speaks, Grand Theatre Center for the Arts,

            Tracy, CA

2013    The Body Speaks & Emanations, Figurehead Gallery, Livermore, CA

            Firehouse Arts Center PAL featured artist, Pleasanton, CA

            Found Objects, Assemblages & Collages, Wente Vineyards Estate Winery,

            Livermore, CA

2012    The Art of Collage, Firehouse Arts Center, Pleasanton, CA

2011    Intersecting Color, Bankhead Theater Founder’s Room, CA

2010    Abstracted, Cuda Ridge Winery, Livermore, CA

            Falling Color, Wente Vineyards Estate Winery, Livermore, CA

            Converging Lines, Bankhead Theater Gallery, Livermore, CA

            Geometrics, Bankhead Theater Founder’s Room, Livermore, CA

2009    Gemstones Abstracted, Wild Vine Art Gallery, Livermore, CA

2008    Square Series, Wild Vine Art Gallery, Livermore, CA

            Abstract View: Rocks, Feathers & Butterflies, Bankhead Theater Gallery,

            Livermore, CA

2006    Eucalyptus Abstracts, Artspace Gallery, Livermore, CA

            Land & Sky, Wente Vineyards Estate Winery, Livermore, CA

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

 

2018     SFMOMA Artists Gallery Benefit Sale, San Francisco, CA

             Susan Street Fine Art Gallery, Solana Beach, CA

             Jules Place: Art For Living Gallery, Boston, MA

             Slate Editions exhibition with Slate artists, Batch showroom, San Francisco, CA

             Slate Contemporary Hall Gallery: Holiday Show, Oakland, CA

             Khrome Studios, San Francisco, CA

2017    Jules Place: Art for Living Gallery: Bountiful, Boston, Massachusetts

            Slate Art Consulting: Tahoe Installation, Martis Camp, CA

            Slate Art Consulting: Pacific Heights Installation, San Francisco, CA

            Slate Contemporary: Philartropy, Oakland, CA

            Firehouse Arts Center: Along the Lines, Pleasanton, CA

            Khrome Studios, 101 Henry Adams St., San Francisco, CA

2016    Graphic Impulse, Slate Contemporary, Oakland, CA

            Abstract Women, San Ramon Valley Conference Center, San Ramon, CA

            G2 Insurance, 140 New Montgomery St., San Francisco, CA

            Khrome Studios, 101 Henry Adams St., San Francisco, CA

            Art Market SF, SLATE Artist, San Francisco, CA

            SLATE Selections, SLATE contemporary, Oakland, CA

            Aspen Leaf Interiors Design Studio & Gallery, Truckee, CA

            SFMOMA Artist’s Gallery Benefit Sale, San Francisco, CA

2015    Art Market SF, SLATE Artist, San Francisco, CA

            Martis Camp, SLATE Art Consulting, Lake Tahoe, CA

            Gallery 85 Selections, Gallery 85, San Jose, CA

            Emanations, Lumen Gallery, Capitola, CA

2014    Color Charts, SLATE contemporary, Oakland, CA

            Recycled & Repurposed, San Ramon Valley Conference Center,

            San Ramon, CA

            Art Co-opted, Grand Theatre Center for the Arts, Tracy, CA

            Group Show, ASK.com offices, 555 12^th St. Oakland, CA

            Angela Johal and Dave Meeker, Tribune Tower Window, Oakland, CA

            SLATE Selections, SLATE contemporary, Oakland, CA

            Figurehead Gallery Artists, Livermore, CA

            Emanations, Lumen Gallery, Capitola, CA

2013    Art Co-opted, Grand Theatre Center for the Arts, Tracy, CA

            Transported, Gary Francis Gallery, Alameda, CA

            2D3D Works with Juror Rene de Guzman, 2^nd place award, LH Horton Jr. Gallery,

            Stockton, CA

            Women, Linus Galleries, Los Angeles, CA

            East Bay Open Studios Preview Show, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA

            Emanations, Lumen Gallery, Capitola, CA

            Fresh Works, Juror Elizabeth Kathleen Mitchell, Harrington Gallery, Pleasanton, CA

            Transport: Where Do We Go From Here Member’s Show, Pro Arts, Oakland, CA

            Expressions, 1^st & 2^nd place mixed media, Tracy, CA

2012    Art Co-opted, Grand Theatre Center for the Arts, Tracy, CA

            East Bay Open Studios, Pro Arts, Jack London Square artists, Oakland, CA

            Beauty…It’s Not Pretty, Grand Theatre Center for the Arts, National Juried

             Exhibition, Juror Kris Kuksi, Tracy, CA

             East Bay Open Studios Preview Show, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA

             Fresh Works, Harrington Gallery, Juror Kim Anno, Pleasanton, CA

             Courage, Member’s Show, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA

             The 4 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, & Regrow, Expressions Gallery, Berkeley, CA

             Off The Wall, Figurehead Gallery, Livermore, CA

             Comrades In Art, Bankhead Gallery, Livermore, CA

             Spring Art Show, Best of Show award, Livermore, CA

             Expressions Selections, Grand Theatre Center for the Arts, Tracy, CA

             Expressions, 1^st place mixed media, Tracy, CA

2011    Grand Opening, Figurehead Gallery, Livermore, CA

            Fresh Works, Harrington Gallery, Pleasanton, CA

            The Essential Nude, Bothwell Arts Center, Livermore, CA

             Spring Art Show Selections, City of Livermore Gallery, City Hall, Livermore, CA

             Expressions, 1^st place collage, Tracy, CA

             Expressions Selections, Grand Theatre Center for the Arts, Tracy, CA

2010    2D3D Color & Design, National Juried Exhibition, Juror SFMOMA Curator,

            LH Horton Jr. Gallery, Stockton, CA

            What Lies Above, Beneath & Through, merit award, Linda Ryan Fine Art Gallery,

            Livermore, CA

            Ekphrasis, a Poetic Response to Art, Livermore, CA

            Poetry, Prose and Arts, Pleasanton, CA

            The Essential Nude, Bothwell Arts Center, Livermore, CA

            First At the Firehouse, Harrington Gallery, Pleasanton, CA

            East Bay Figurative, Linda Ryan Fine Art Gallery, Livermore, CA

2009    Museum on Main Group Show, Pleasanton, CA

            Expressions, Tracy, CA

            At the Mission Adobe, Pleasanton, CA

            The Essential Nude, merit award, Livermore, CA

2008    Art in the Vineyard, Wente Vineyards Estate Winery, Livermore, CA

            Member’s Showcase 2008, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA

            Expressions, 1^st place watercolor, Tracy, CA

            At the Mission Adobe, Pleasanton, CA

2007    Ekphrasis, a Poetic Response to Art, Big White House Winery, Livermore, CA

            Featured Artists, Artspace Gallery, CA

 

EDUCATION

 

1985    Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree (B.F.A.) in Painting, Magna Cum Laude,

            San Jose State University, San Jose, CA