FEATURED ARTIST: DAMON JOHNSON

Leonard Tourné Gallery is excited to announce its two latest acquisitions: "Hot Chicks" and "Doomed" by Damon Johnson, one of the up-and-coming talents at the center of New York's art scene.

New Yorkers are likely familiar with Johnson's large-scale, colorful paintings, best described as a cross between comic book cartoons and graffiti art.

Or they may have seen his work--termed "urban surrealism" by the artist--on the streets of New York City or covering the walls of NYC nightclub interiors, including at Pink Elephant, Plumm, and Webster Hall.

For our collection, we favored one of his earlier works, a 2006 painting with hand-made pixilation:

Damon Johnson, "Doomed," acrylic on canvas, 2006

And one of his most recent marker drawings:

Damon Johnson, "Hot Chicks," marker on paper, Caption: "I Guess the Twinkle in Her Eye Is Just... the Twinkle in Her Eye"

Johnson earned his bachelor's degree in fine arts from New York University in 2000. What began as an aversion to art dealers, as noted in this 2006 article from Forbes magazine, has morphed into a whirlwind of shows at commercial galleries in New York and worldwide.

Johnson's work has been exhibited at CVZ Contemporary and Bent Gallery, among a host of others, and is in the permanent collections of the Patterson, Hamilton, and Chelsea Art Museum. He's featured in articles in Forbes magazine, ArtNet, Trump magazine, Zinc and more.

For more information on his work, contact us at info@leonard-tourne.com or (212)219-2656 or visit us at our Soho location: 463 Broome Street (between Mercer and Grand), New York, NY 10013.