Patrick Johnstone puts on Adman Paints 4 exhibition

Unable to accommodate both his professional focus on commercial graphics and his original predilection for fine art, Patrick Johnstone found himself induced to place what had served as his career foundation onto the back-burner for 25 years, as he concentrated on his career in the advertising sector.

Retiring as CEO of Publicis Caribbean Ltd, Johnstone finally retired from the business and returned to his one-time craft. But, as he puts it, the whole process has not been akin to getting back on a bicycle after a long hiatus, a media release said. Skill-development and muscle-memory in art are different and Johnstone decided to put his own, positive spin on things after being told that the ad industry had taken its toll and that his first exhibition was one of a graphic artist and not a more classical performer. Instead of being affronted, Johnstone simply viewed it all as the application of a different interpretation of the genre.

He is now on the cusp of staging his fourth, self-managed exhibition, Patrick Johnstone: Adman Paints 4, October 22-28 at the 101 Art Gallery in Newtown. While this upcoming event will be a continuation of his work in the acrylic on canvas medium, the content will again be different with, as he promises, each piece having a twist via colour and interpretation, the release said.

Nevertheless, there are a few works on the schedule that possess a poster-like quality; on purpose, in accordance with the experimentation in hard line and colour. His panoramic view presentation, North Coast Sunset, would not be out of place outside MovieTowne Port of Spain or Caribbean Cinemas at Trincity Mall: drama, with a little bit of foreboding, abounds as foliage and part of a cliff side are silhouetted in black and help to frame the brilliant reds, yellows and blue-grey of the transition of dusk into pure nightfall.

As Johnstone would have it, “This exhibition lives in each individual piece and the emotion it sets up for the viewer,” the release said.

Patrick Johnstone: Adman Paints 4 will premiere over two days, October 22 and 23, 2022, from 10 am–4 pm each day. Over the remaining five days viewing is from 12 pm-6 pm.

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