“Untitled #172, 2013” by Simen Johan in the series “Until the Kingdom Comes”

Simen Johan blends traditional and digital techniques to create lush photography that paradoxically seem to be both direct observation and and fabrication. In his own words: “I strive to create tension and confuse the boundaries between opposing forces, such as beauty and brutality…or the familiar and the otherworldly, the natural and the artificial, the amusing and the eerie. I often feel like I am attempting to reconcile the irreconcilable as I explore the paradoxical nature of existence.” Simen was born in Norway and moved to New York City to study visual arts and photography. Johan received the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in 2002, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2009 and the George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation Grant for Photography in 2012. Johan has been represented by the Yossi Milo Gallery since 2000.

Lecture: Thursday, 6/9: 4PM-5.30PM, Kellen Auditorium, 66 Fifth Avenue

This Lecture is free and open to the public