Real interiors

Look at this image – is it real or is it an illusion?

Ben Johnson is an artist with an eye for detail. The honorary Royal Institute of British Architects fellow understands the importance of the environment and its surroundings and shows this through his talent of creating intricate paintings of interiors.

Next week, in his first solo show at the Alan Cristea Gallery, you will be able to see his unseen series of paintings of half-real, half imagined interiors that draw in the viewer through the use of perspective.

Johnson’s gift for  capturing interiors that are perfect examples of design, form and structure, also lends itself to his creations of city landscapes. You may recognise his detailed topographic painting of the Liverpool Docklands (below), completed in 2008. The Liverpool Cityscape is to be displayed as part of an exhibition looking at urban landscapes at the National Gallery later on this year.

The show will coincide with the Sainsbury Wing exhibition Venice: Canaletto and His Rivals, where Johnson will unveil an unfinished cityscape of Norman Foster’s Trafalgar Square. Visitors will be able to see Johnson complete the painting in public, giving an insight into the artist’s working methods.

Paintings by Ben Johnson from 17 November to 23 December at the Alan Cristea Gallery,  31&34 Cork Street, London W1S

Modern Perspectives by Ben Johnson from 8 December to 23 January in Room 1, Sainsburys Wing at the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N