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buttjohnson

@buttjohnson

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I got some Kuretake “dot” markers earlier this year and just finished this attempt at pointillism. Used my local laundromat as subject- I’ve been a fan of laundry machine portholes since I was a kid. Overlaid the marker with Sakura Moonlight gel pens and ballpoint pens from Muji, Zebra, and Steadtler. It’s about 14” x 12” by @buttjohnson

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2 months ago

Showing this Lichens drawing I made last year in an awesome group show “Back in the Future” curated by the amazing @erikaranee — at @platformprojectspace a super cool artist run gallery in Dumbo, Brooklyn. Such a great group of artists- opens tonight! by @buttjohnson

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5 months ago

F these goons and their malevolent, nihilistic commanders.
Peace liberty and justice now ☮️ 🗽 ⚖️ 🇺🇸 by @buttjohnson

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6 months ago

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6 months ago

I’m excited to show this new drawing in an awesome group show called V-EFFECT that opens this Saturday 6-8pm @halseymckaygallery in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
The show has works on view by an incredible group: DAVIS ARNEY, GINA BEAVERS, DAVID KENNEDY CUTLER, BUTT JOHNSON, KYUNG-ME, ERICA SHIBA, STACY LYNNE WADDELL
Come by the opening on Saturday!

Above: untitled (integrated circuit), 2025
marker, ballpoint, gel ink, and “Sparkle Pop” ink on Bristol
8.25 x 7.25” taken in Paulie Gee's by @buttjohnson

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6 months ago

V-EFFECT
DAVIS ARNEY, GINA BEAVERS, DAVID KENNEDY CUTLER, BUTT JOHNSON, KYUNG-ME, ERIKA SHIBA, STACY LYNN WADDELL

By Appointment January 17 – March 1
60 Greenpoint Avenue, Brooklyn NY

Halsey McKay is pleased to present V-Effekt. The artists in this exhibition both conceal and reveal labor to varying degrees across diverse approaches to making. Mundane domestic objects and ephemera are depicted, constructed, and suggested. Paint, gel pens, graphite, and inkjet transfers create, distort, and belie images. Illusions are tenderly formed, yet repeatedly interrupted, fragmented, and obscured.

Bertolt Brecht’s concept of Verfremdungseffekt—often translated as the “alienation effect” or “distancing effect”—asks audiences to question the seductive and immersive qualities of theatrical performance, rejecting these popularized Aristotelian conventions. By exposing the mechanics of the stage or employing formal interventions that reveal theatrical artifice, Brecht sought to encourage objective reflection on one’s role as an observer, inhibiting emphatic identification with characters or narrative. Ultimately, he believed this distancing could open a pathway toward liberation grounded in a critical analysis of social and economic structures.

In a world increasingly adept at capturing and redirecting our attention, the ability to look beyond surface-level messaging—whether in advertising, politics, or media—has become essential to retaining the human experience. The artists in this exhibition are acutely attuned to the dynamics of attention: how it is shaped, sustained, and disrupted. Through their practices, they not only exercise deliberate control over attention in the studio, but also invite viewers to become conscious of their own modes of seeing—both within the act of encountering an artwork and in the ways we observe and move through the world at large. by @buttjohnson

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7 months ago

I finished this drawing of a potted Oxalis plant a few weeks ago. I’m excited to be exhibiting it @kristenlorello_gallery in a massive group show with 90+ other artists titled “Spectrum”. Opens Friday 7/25 on 73rd Street NYC, up through August 15th.
The drawing is 16 x 13”, marker, ballpoint and gel ink on Bristol paper. taken in Kristen Lorello by @buttjohnson

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a year ago

Had a fun conversation with @alfredstudio on his podcast @soundandvisionpodcast talking about growing up reading comics, making and looking at works on paper, music influences, art school in the 90s, audiobooks, collaborations and more. by @buttjohnson

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a year ago

This Tick drawing I made in 2019 is included in what looks to be an awesome group show — “Deep Color” at @halseymckaygallery in East Hampton NY. The show is organized by @hartjoseph based on his oral history project and audio podcast, also called “Deep Color”.
We had a fun conversation back in like 2018, still up on the website. The show opens Sat 5/24 and runs through 6/30. There’s a bunch of incredible artists I admire in the show:
Joshua Abelow, Glen Baldridge, Yevgeniya Baras, Gina Beavers, Susan Bee, Katherine Bradford, Patrick Brennan, Ernesto Burgos, Sean J. Patrick Carney, Brian Chippendale, Kari Cholnoky, Ryan Travis Christian, Graham Collins, Ian Cooper, David Kennedy Cutler, Rachelle Dang, Alex Dodge, Jim Drain, Leslie Duiguid, Christopher Robin Duncan, Elise Ferguson, Nikita Gale, Daniel Gibson, Ethan Greenbaum, Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Dave Hardy, Elias Hansen, Adam Helms, An Hoang, Kevin Hooyman, Butt Johnson, Matt Kenny, Elisabeth Kley, Andrew Kuo, Fabienne Lasserre, Jennie Jieun Lee, Maia Ruth Lee, Matt Leines, Spencer Lewis, Lauren Luloff, Eddie Martinez, Jason McLean, Sam Moyer, Hilary Pecis, Celia Pym, Matt Rich, Erin M. Riley, Libby Rothfeld, Adrianne Rubenstein, Sara Maria Salamone, Phil Sanders, Curtis Talwst Santiago, Andrew Schoultz, Emily Mae Smith, Sophie Stone, Sean Sullivan, Rodrigo Valenzuela, Ryan Wallace, Eric White, Rachel Eulena Williams, Jesse Wine, Sun You, and Sarah Zapata taken in Halsey Mckay Gallery by @buttjohnson

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a year ago

Lichens, 2025- layers of marker, ballpoint, gel ink on Bristol by @buttjohnson

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a year ago

Some very cool oil pastel drawings on sandpaper invoking sexual pollutions by Rob Palidoro @painterly_prince on view @1969gallery in Tribeca by @buttjohnson

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a year ago

Protists and Algae, 2025 - 14 x 17”
ballpoint on bristol by @buttjohnson

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a year ago