Larry Johnson (artist)
Larry Johnson (born July 25, 1959) is an American artist living and working in Los Angeles. Johnson uses a combination of contemporary and antiquated photographic techniques. Early life and career. Larry Johnson was raised in the Middle American town of Lakewood. He was born on July 25, 1959, to his father, a AAA baseball player, and his mother, a homemaker. Johnson began studying at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 1978 and graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He stayed with the school and went on to receive a Masters of Fine  Arts in 1984. While studying at CalArts Johnson mentored under Douglas Huebler and worked alongside fellow students Stephen Prina and Christopher Williams. During this time he also met Richard Prince, who visited the institute in 1984. Johnson cites Prince as an early influence on his work and credits the meeting as leading to his inclusion in his first New York exhibition, the 1987 "Perverted by Language" curated by Robert Nickas. Career and artwork. Teaching. Johnson has taught as a professor in Los Angeles for approximately thirty years and at one time served as the chair of the Otis College of  Art and Design's department of Photography. He is currently a Distinguished Lecturer at Otis as well as an occasional guest lecturer at ArtCenter. Work and techniques. Johnson was trained in pre-digital commercial graphic design production and often foregrounds techniques such as the paste-up, commonly used to prepare “camera ready” material for print.