Janna Watson Interviewed by Paper Magazine
Recently, old friend and international singer, Allie X interviewed Janna Watson for Paper Magazine. Throughout their interview, they spoke about Watson's formative years with her grandfather, her childhood, and her most recent exhibition Fruit of the Loom, among many other topics.
Click the link below to read the interview in full.
ABOUT JANNA WATSON
Janna Watson (b. 1983) is known for her dramatic abstract paintings, visually centred around interactions if colour and line.
Watson’s work is a contemporary interpretation and continuation of automatic painting seeing each piece is created in the moment with little external influence. Watson’s dynamic compositions are manifestations of emotion and energy as described through the artist’s distinctive treatment of colour, line and mass. Her work possesses an elegant and powerful energy.
Born in Flesherton in 1983, Janna Watson studied at OCAD University gaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing, honours, in 2008.
In 2013, the artist was commissioned to create a large-scale site-specific painting—measuring 11 x 31 feet—for the lobby of Aura, Canada’s tallest residential building, located in Toronto.
In 2016, Watson participated in the first edition of the Brain Project—a Toronto-wide public fundraiser and exhibition in support of Alzheimer’s and related dementia research through Baycrest Hospital.
Work by the artist can be found in collections including TD Bank Financial Group, Toronto; Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Toronto; Hudson’s Bay Company, New York; TELUS Communications, Toronto; Saks Fifth Avenue, Toronto; Nordstrom, Toronto; The Ritz Carlton, Toronto; Soho Metropolitan Hotel, Toronto; Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, Toronto; Rosa Properties, Vancouver; The Keg, London; AURA Condominium, Toronto; Cenovus Energy Inc., Calgary; Oni One, Toronto; GZ International, Toronto; Relative Space, Toronto; among others.
Janna Watson has been represented by Bau-Xi Gallery since 2010, mounting 20 solo exhibitions between the gallery’s spaces in Toronto and Vancouver.