An abstract painting by Wiley Johnson featuring a red and yellow outline with vertical blue, white and purple strokes in the middle — *Field of Lilac*
2020
Wiley Johnson
Acrylic on canvas
30" x 48"
$700

Wiley Johnson and Eduardo Lapetina: Through the Layers

A Block Gallery Exhibition accompanying the LEAD® Conference

Updated: Aug 16, 2022

Exhibition Information

Wiley Johnson and Eduardo Lapetina: Through the Layers is part of a showcase of art exhibitions, performances, and experiences accompanying the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability Conference (LEAD®), which took place in Raleigh from August 1 – 5, 2022. The artworks are on display at Block Gallery, one of our City-owned galleries.

This exhibition brings together two North Carolina based artists who self-identify as having a disability. They each have different approaches to abstraction but have found a visual language through paint. For example, the rich thick layered colors of Eduardo Lapetina’s paintings are applied by pouring, scraping, dripping and other methods, create a complex surface texture. Meanwhile, Wiley Johnson has a more fluid approach to abstraction often allowing the previous layer of paint to show through transparent applications.

The title of this exhibition Through the Layers suggests more than just the use of paint and the complex surfaces created by these artists. Working as an artist with a disability, whether it be physical, cognitive, or invisible to others, informs the creative process and the artist experience. As viewers, we shouldn’t perceive this as an impediment to the art but as the culmination of a lived disability experience.

Exhibition Details

When: August 1 through September 21, 2022, Mon-Fri, 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Where: Block Gallery, 222 W. Hargett St. (inside Raleigh Municipal Building)
- Before visiting, please review the Raleigh Municipal Building rules
Parking: Visitors can park in the Municipal Building Deck at 201 W Morgan St. Raleigh, NC 27601
Cost: Free and open to the public
Artworks are for sale, contact Stacy Bloom Rexrode for details

About the Artists & Artworks

Wiley Johnson

an abstract whirling of brush strokes in black, red, yellow, and blue paint — *Before Colors Collide*
2020
Wiley Johnson
Acrylic on canvas
48" x 48"
$900

An abstract painting by Wiley Johnson featuring vertical, curved strokes of blue, red, green, white, and black with blue dots on the entire painting — *The Universe of Color*
2020
Wiley Johnson
Acrylic on canvas
27.5" x 44"
$600

An abstract painting by Wiley Johnson featuring blues and greens with red on top and blue dots covering the entire painting — *Down into the Abyss*
2020
Wiley Johnson
Acrylic on canvas
30" x 48"
$700

An abstract painting by Wiley Johnson featuring orange, blue, and pink with a fan of green and a black circle with lines — *Character to a Peachtree*
2020
Wiley Johnson
Acrylic on canvas
30" x 48"
$700

An abstract painting by Wiley Johnson featuring red, yellow, white and purple brush strokes — *Saucy Day*
2020
Wiley Johnson
Acrylic on canvas
48" x 48"
$900

An abstract painting by Wiley Johnson featuring orange, yellow, blues, greens, and purple — *Burning*
2021
Wiley Johnson
Acrylic on canvas
36" x 48"
$800

An abstract painting by Wiley Johnson featuring teal on the bottom and bright neon yellow and orange at the top — *Image That*
2021
Wiley Johnson
Acrylic on canvas
36" x 36"
$600

An abstract painting by Wiley Johnson featuring dark teal, white, reds, oranges, and yellows — *Knockout*
2022
Wiley Johnson
Acrylic on canvas
30" x 48"
$700

An abstract painting by Wiley Johnson featuring blue on the left and orange on the right meeting in the middle — *Say I*
2021
Wiley Johnson
Acrylic on canvas
48" x 60"
$1100

Website | Instagram

Wiley Johnson is a talented 37-year-old artist who has autism spectrum disorder. Wiley has no formal art training. He started painting as a hobby approximately 2009. Art became the way Wiley copes with the challenges of living with autism spectrum disorder, learning, and finding stable employment. He enjoys painting acrylic on canvas, abstract style, but also likes painting on recycled materials and small wooden crafts.

2020 was a year of transformation for Wiley from a hobbyist painter to an emerging artist. He had his first solo exhibition in January 2020 and was included in 4 juried exhibitions. Wiley was honored to have a solo exhibition with the Durham Art Guild March 2021 at the Golden Belt Gallery. He also had paintings exhibited in group exhibitions at Visual Art Exchange, the Block Gallery and Compass Rose Brewery in Raleigh, NC. in 2021.

Eduardo Lapetina

An abstract painting by Eduardo Lapentia featuring paint in red, yellow, green, blue, and white — *Hope Springs Audacious*
2021
Eduardo Lapetina
Acrylic on canvas
40" x 60"
$3,200

An abstract painting by Eduardo Lapentia featuring paint in golds and black — *Tree Planted In the Heavens*
2022
Eduardo Lapetina
Acrylic on canvas
48" x 30"
$1,675

An abstract painting by Eduardo Lapentia featuring paint in blues, greens, yellows, browns, and some reds — *From the Beginning*
2022
Eduardo Lapetina
Acrylic on canvas
48" x 30"
$1,675

An abstract painting by Eduardo Lapentia featuring paint in blues, greens, yellows, and some red — *Emerging Out of Solitude*
2022
Eduardo Lapetina
Acrylic on canvas
30" x 30"
$1,200

An abstract painting by Eduardo Lapentia featuring paint in greens, blues, yellows, and red — *Breaking In On My Reverie (I)*
2022
Eduardo Lapetina
Acrylic on canvas
22" x 28"
$675

An abstract painting by Eduardo Lapentia featuring paint in gold, yellows, oranges, and dark browns — *Transcendent Dialogue*
2022
Eduardo Lapetina
Acrylic on canvas
30" x 48"
$1,675

An abstract painting by Eduardo Lapentia featuring paint in blue, green, gold/yellow, and orange — *The Light Just Beyond*
2022
Eduardo Lapetina
Acrylic on canvas
30" x 48"
$1,675

An abstract painting by Eduardo Lapentia featuring paint in purple, yellow/gold, browns, and some green — *Possible Worlds*
2022
Eduardo Lapetina
Acrylic on canvas
28" x 22"
$675

An abstract painting by Eduardo Lapentia featuring paint in green, yellow, orange blue, and off white — *Thoughts Darting Through Sun-Dappled Water*
2022
Eduardo Lapetina
Acrylic on canvas
30" x 30"
$1,200

Website

Eduardo Lapetina is largely a self-taught artist and constantly experiments in his studio. He is a scientist turned artist after being diagnosed with two autoimmune diseases that warranted a career change. He has attended painting classes with Professor Kimowan McLain at the University of North Carolina and with painter Jane Filer at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro.

His ambition with his paintings is to use symbolic shapes and colors to express his deepest emotions and passion for life. His paintings also require layers upon layers of paint to create a sensuous and turbulent surface texture that is as vital and as complicated as life itself. It is not about any particular theme or motif; it is about effectively conveying the immaterial through materiality.