on Display at Andrew Charles Gallery

WNC’s “New Art Destination,” the Andrew Charles Gallery, presents the varied work of local artist Sandee Johnson in a one-woman show titled Proliferation, on view from May 31 through July 16, 2014.

After living in eight cities on five continents, Johnson decided to return to her Southern roots and “nest,” so she relocated to the Asheville area from Europe via Virginia (her home state) mid last decade. She has worked and traveled as an artist and photographer/journalist in over 80 countries, and her mixed-media figurative and abstract paintings — ranging from monochromatic to vividly colorful — have been shown in over 200 group and solo exhibitions worldwide during the past 35-plus years.

From her local studio she continues to produce work that is shipped from here to exhibition venues in places are diverse as France, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Philippines and Australia. She is represented by a European firm that places her paintings in corporate venues in London, Rome, Paris, Luxembourg, Berlin and Amsterdam, making her, arguably, the most internationally viewed artist working in Western North Carolina.

Johnson is also possibly the most prolific artist in the Asheville area — hence the name of her current ACG show, “Proliferation.” She is constantly (practically 24/7) creating scores of images in acrylic, collage/montage/assemblage, watercolor, encaustic, and pen & ink. Johnson often combines these mediums in inventive and unexpected ways, frequently producing images in multiple series of themed works.

Currently, she is focusing on an extended series of large-format monotypes utilizing her own color-and-content enhanced portrait photography of local models.

If You Go: On display through June 2014. There will be a wine reception for the artist at the gallery on Saturday, May 31 from 5 to 9 p.m. The Andrew Charles Gallery, 60 North Merrimon Avenue, Suite 105, Reynolds Village. Hours are 10-5, Tuesday-Saturday, or by appointment: (828) 989-0111.