Co-Lab Projects 2012 Filmed and Edited by Sean Gaulager “ROW HOME” : Mark Johnson “In these works I invade the viewers space with fragmented conversations. The lost paragraphs meanings find their way to the surface through similar relationships between letters, drawings, color and texture. I try to observe events, human interactions, and personal perspectives to become more conscious of my own emotional responses and to find metaphors for experience. My findings become the phrases used in my work that are journalistic in nature and describe a universal struggle of reflection.” -Mark Johnson http://paintjohnson.com/ Mark Johnson paints, draws, and creates multimedia work out of a studio in the east side art megaplex, Pump Project. Much of his work involves text and letters - sometimes with direct messages, others that are harder to decipher. He moved to Austin in 2008 from Brooklyn and has exhibited during the East Austin Studio Tours, “Fifth Business” a joint show with Debra Broz and Michael Merck at Pump Project, and a solo show at Art Project in 2009. He currently works as Operations Manager/Preparator at AMOA/Arthouse. Newly rebranded nonprofit Co-Lab Projects has entered into a unique partnership with downtown architecture firm Nelsen Partners to provide an additional exhibition site called N Space—a new testing ground for a rotating selection of contemporary art meant to complement work customarily exhibited at Co-Lab’s Project Space in East Austin. Co-Lab Projects will now serve the artistic community by providing multiple venues in which to exhibit, learn, and teach. Co-Lab Projects aims to cultivate a new collectorship for up and coming artists.

"In these works I invade the viewers space with fragmented conversations. The lost paragraphs meanings find their way to the surface through similar relationships between letters, drawings, color and texture. I try to observe events, human interactions, and personal perspectives to become more conscious of my own emotional responses and to find metaphors for experience. My findings become the phrases used in my work that are journalistic in nature and describe a universal struggle of reflection." -Mark Johnson