Johanna Poethig
Johanna Poethig is a contemporary artist known for her monumentally scaled murals and architecturally integrated public art, socially engaged collaborations, multi media installations and performance. Her work is site specific and conceptually driven using image, text, symbol, narrative and satire to address critical social, cultural and political themes. In contrast to this she explores nature, science, perception and the mystical, drawing visual ideas from mathematics and inventing divination games based on ancient systems of prediction. She is a curator and works with other artists, performers, composers, architects and diverse communities on artistic interventions in our shared spaces. She grew up in the Philippines and has been active in Filipino-American arts community since the 1980’s. She is currently Lead Artist to create public art for 34 AC Transit Bus Stations along a 9 mile transit corridor from downtown Oakland to San Leandro. Her recent exhibits include the “Songs for Women Living With War” memorial project at Pro Arts Gallery and “Positional Vertigo” solo exhibit at Mercury 20 Gallery in Oakland, “Making our Mark” at Richmond Art Center, “Glamorgeddon: The Spectacle” at SOMArts Gallery in San Francisco, Manila Transi(e)nt in the Philippines and Artisterium, the annual international contemporary art exhibition in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Poethig received her MFA at Mills College and is a Professor of Painting and Public Art at the Visual and Public Art department at California State University, Monterey Bay.