Bidspirit auction | Allan ”Zion” Johnson Intuitive Folk


Allan ”Zion” Johnson Intuitive Folk Art Painting - Original oil painting on board by Jamaican self-taught artist Allan ”Zion” Johnson, also known as Isaac Johnson. Executed in his distinctive Jamaican Intuitive or folk-art style, the composition depicts a lively coastal scene filled with fishing boats, figures, colorful fish, birds, houses and rolling blue water. Johnson's work is known for bright color, flattened and shifting perspective, simplified figures and densely populated narrative scenes inspired by everyday Jamaican life and popular religion. Signed ”Allan Zion” lower left and inscribed within the composition. Verso is marked ”HOLIDAY” and retains an artist information label. Johnson became recognized as part of Jamaica's Intuitive art movement and exhibited regularly beginning in 1980, including exhibitions organized by the National Gallery of Jamaica. 18 1/2” x 14 1/2” framed. Allan ”Zion” Johnson (Isaac Johnson, 1930-2001, Jamaican) was born in St. Andrew, Jamaica. He began painting and drawing around 1965 and developed largely as a self-taught artist, gaining recognition within Jamaica's Intuitive art movement. His works frequently depict the Jamaican environment, community life and religious subjects in richly colored, highly detailed compositions with unconventional perspective and animated figures. He exhibited at the National Gallery of Jamaica and was included in major exhibitions such as Fifteen Intuitives in 1987