MARTINE JOHANNA
About the artist

Education
MA, ArtEZ – Institute of the Arts, Arnhem, NL
BA, ArtEZ – Institute of the Arts, Arnhem, NL

Martine Johanna is a Dutch born female artist. The artist currently lives and works in the Netherlands in her artist home and studio in the countryside since 2017 maintaining close ties to her former Amsterdam location where she worked & resided for 12 years.


Representing galleries:

MasseyKlein Gallery, New York, USA

KochXBos gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands

MJ in her studio in 2021
ABOUT THE WORK

The escapistic and slightly hypnagogic works of Martine Johanna are figurative within the realm of new contemporary realism, and embody the inner workings of a self described "female chimerical house".
A symbolic house that explores the mental fluctuations of an archetypical female roaming a predominantly male infrastructure while trying to observantly experience her own narratives within the social fabric she is part of.

The painterly works, often on linen and panels, are made with acrylic in an optimistic prismatic color spectrum reminiscent of Fauvism and carry the atmosphere of Mid Century idealism. The works often include framing that let the image bleed into the “real world”. Cut-throughs and light prisms distort the female protagonists in elucidating dynamic surreal compositions, making an exploratory play between abstraction and narrative depiction.


MESMERIZED BY MERCURY WINDOWS

Part of Johanna’s inspiration is drawn from childhood. Raised with a strict upbringing, the artist grew up in an environment structured by traditional gender divides, rules and roles. Cheap dime novels, TV programs and fashion magazines, much like the screens and social media channels of today, provided escape into an illusive and ethereal world filled with fairytale castles and savior princes. Johanna’s female protagonists playfully exhibit the inner struggle between youthful naivety and adulthood, in an attempt to establish their own gender driven identities and romantic inclinations while trying to fit into the world around them.

Martine Johanna studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Arnhem, Netherlands, where she completed both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. She has exhibited internationally, including exhibitions at commercial galleries in Amsterdam, San Francisco, New York, Aalborg, Los Angeles and San Diego, and has participated in exhibitions at cultural institutions including the Mesa Arts Museum in Arizona and Collectie de Groen in Arnhem. The artist has had two previous solo exhibitions with Massey Klein Gallery: Balancing Act, on view from 11 September through 24 October 2020, and Life is But A Dream, on view from 12 October through 11 November 2018. Johanna’s work resides in prominent private collections internationally. In 2020 the artist received project funding of 2021 Mondriaanfonds project support for a 3 form project that is yet to be released.  

United States
MASSEY KLEIN GALLERY
124 Forsyth Street
New York, US
info@masseyklein.com
www.masseyklein.com


Europe
KOCHxBOS GALLERY
Eerste Anjeliersdwarsstraat 36
Amsterdam, NL
info@kochxbos.com
www.kochxbos.nl

SOLO AND TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS



2024

To be titled, New York Art Fair, New York, US 
Titel nog te bepalen, Hashimoto contemporary, Los Angeles, US (komend)


2023

How To Relieve Stress And Anxiety Through Good Housekeeping, Massey Klein Gallery, New York, US


2022 

A Luminous Void, KochXBos Gallery, Amsterdam, NL


2021 

The Dark House Of Goria, Hashimoto contemporary, San Francisco, US


2020 

Balancing Act, Massey Klein Gallery, New York, US
Surrender Dorothy, KochXBos Gallery, Amsterdam, NL


2018 

Life is but a Dream, Massey Klein Gallery, New York, US
Dark Matter, KochXBos Gallery, Amsterdam, NL


2017 

Something’s Wrong, Massey Lyuben, New York, US


2016 

Dancer, Spoke Art, San Francisco, US


2016 

Happy Days, Bright Side Gallery, Amsterdam, NL


GROUP SHOWS


2023 

A Decade of The Jaunt, Hashimoto Contemporary, Los Angeles, US


2022

The Moleskine Project, Mesa Arts Museum, Mesa, US
At The Edge, Kirk Gallery, Aalborg, DK
Halcyon Days, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, US


2021

At The Edge of Realism, Kirk Gallery, Aalborg, DK
Inaugural, Hashimoto Contemporary, Los Angeles, US
ExtraPlaats ExtraWerk, Plaatsmaken, Arnhem / Extrapool, Nijmegen, NL
Uitnacht Arnhem, Collectie de Groen, Arnhem, NL


2020

Public Art Gallery, Studio Volkshotel Amsterdam, NL
Lately, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, US


2019 

Push Play, Massey Klein Gallery, New York, US
Scope Art Fair met Hashimoto Contemporary, Miami, US
KunstRai met KochXBos Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
Summer, KochXBos Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
Heron Arts, San Francisco, US
The Moleskine Project VIII, Hashimoto Contemporary, San Francisco, US
Seeing Red, Thinkspace, Los Angeles, US

2018

Hands On, Massey Klein Gallery, New York, US

2017 

Shaping The Future, Kallenbach Gallery, Amsterdam, NL


RESIDENCIES


2024  New York, US 

2022 The Jaunt, Göteborg, SE


SELECTED PUBLICATIONS & PRESS


2023

The Truth In This Art with Rob Lee (interview), US

Interlocutor Interviews podcast, (interview), US

Art Affairs podcast by Michael Faith (interview), US

Create! Magazine (interview), US

Juxtapoz, US

My Modern Met, US

Interlocuter magazine (interview), US

Experimenta Magazine, ES


2022


Beware Magazine, FR


2021

Juxtapoz, US

Booooooom, US

We and the Color, US

Brainstorm radio (interview / curatie), NL

De Grote Nederlandse Kunstkalender, NL


2020


Sound and Vision podcast by Brian Alfred (interview), US

Winter (interview), MirrorMirror Magazine, NL

LOFI podcast by John Wentz (interview), US/FR

Interlocuter Interviews (artikel over Balancing Act), US

Juxtapoz Magazine (artikel over Balancing Act), US

Booooooom (artikel over Balancing Act), US

Dutch Culture USA, US

Duoscopic Magazine, US

Create Zine (Interview), US

Gallery Viewer (Voorpagina artikel over Surrender Dorothy), NL


2019


ELLE Decoration Canal Houses #2, NL

Metal Magazine, US

Contemporary Art Curator Magazine, US


2018


Wall Street International Magazine, US


2017


Fresh Paint Magazine, US


EDITIONS 


2024 Ghostmothers, Jordskred, NL (komend)

2023 Göteborg, The Jaunt, DK/NL

2022 The Moleskine Project, Paragon Books, US

2021 ExtraPlaats ExtraWerk, Plaatsmaken, Arnhem / Extrapool, Nijmegen, NL

2017 - today, Diverse print editions diverse galeries