ARTISTIC CONTEXT
• Johnson is known for sculptural figures that combine humor, life-size scale, and everyday material transformation, often prompting playful tension between realism and parody.

• Although traditionally Pietà refers to the Virgin Mary holding Christ, Johnson’s version transforms the archetype into his own sculptural lexicon—likely featuring figural motifs rendered in bronze with stylized or conceptual adjustment, consistent with his broader works like Puzzleman (2008).

• Johnson’s work investigates the human desire to interact with the given world through science, mathematics, religion, art, and architecture. His exploration points to our inherent need to connect with the cosmos, our desire to understand it, and our attempts to manipulate it. The work uncovers poetry by accessing the potential of familiar objects, sometimes rendered via classical modes. Johnson’s instinctive humor and ongoing appreciation of art history are played out i materials both modern and timeless.

• “Pieta was created by Matt Johnson, a Los Angeles artist who creates humorous works out of surprising, sometimes unorthodox. materials. In this case, he’s used mufflers to evoke thoughts of Michelangelo’s marble La Pieta sculpture of Mary holding Jesus in her arms after he was brought down from the cross. One muffler part is tilted down looking at the body just as Mary’s, noted Poole.” (Eye on Sun Valley, May 2023)