This past March Los Angeles lost a truly wonderful artist, Kate Johnson, after her courageous three-year battle with cancer. She undertook this journey with dignity that I hope I have if I ever need it. I have known Kate since 2000 when she and Michael Masucci brought their organization EZTV to be in residence at the 18th Street Arts Center. Kate was truly generous, kind and giving, one who understood the meaning of community. An outstanding artist and cultural producer who had fully hit her stride when diagnosed, Kate nevertheless continued to make work and teach at Otis College, inspiring those around her with her will to live and interest in life.

Kate Johnson, JuneMoon video still, 2005

Kate’s practice was hybrid, working in forms often presented outside conventional platforms. She exhibited large-scale projections and videos and critically acclaimed works in a variety of media and genres, exploring the nexus and connections between art, anthropology, technology and social justice. She is at the forefront of women working in large-scale site-specific digital projection, creating massive original projections that locally graced iconic places such as the Getty Center, LA City Hall, West Hollywood Park and Japan American Cultural Center. With the mind and talent of an artist/scientist/engineer, Kate wrote the film scripts and computer code for many of her projects including directing, shooting, animating, editing, coding—producing video artworks often accompanied with original music and sound-design compositions.

Kate Johnson, Projections at Getty, Pacific Standard Time, 2011

Her collaborative work informed much of who she was and became. In 2015 she received an LA Emmy for co-producing and directing with Maria Ramas the film Mia, A Dancer’s Life. Kate emphasized the importance of her 20-year collaboration with artist Barbara T. Smith, as well as projects with artists Susanna Bixby Dakin, Loretta Livingston, S. Pearl Sharp, Mythili Prakash and Aditya Prakash as significant to her development as an artist and a person. Works for which Johnson was a principal collaborator have been presented at several national arts institutions including MoMA (NY), Cannes Film Festival, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Institute of Contemporary Art (London), locally at UCLA, USC, Highways, Los Angeles Theater Center, the Japanese American Cultural Center, including several LA galleries—and of course, her creative home: EZTV.

Kate Johnson, Aboreal Witness, Descano Gardens, 2018

The last time I saw Kate she was going into her studio at EZTV, not so long ago. We spoke for a bit; I asked her how she felt. She expressed hope, but said things had taken a turn and didn’t elaborate. I found a few things to say that were hopeful—her face brightened a bit—and her great smile flickered. She was beautiful, radiant, her soul close to the surface. I really don’t know how else to express this, but it is how I will remember her. She was my friend.

Kate Johnson, “Everywhere In Between”, Bergamot Station, 2015

 

To view Kate Johnson’s work, go to: https://www.katejohnsonartandfilm.com/gallery