Art of the Imagination Case

Stephen T. Johnson’s creative and whimsical approach to the alphabet is featured in the Art of the Imagination case through April 7, 2025. The case features artwork made to illustrate concepts in his three children’s alphabet books (A is for Art: An Abstract Alphabet, Alphabet School, and Alphabet City) and further expand on some of these elements. Johnson’s work invites the viewer to reconsider ordinary objects as extraordinary opportunities for adventure.

J – Jambalaya

aluminum, steel, vinyl, rubber, and plastics, 20 x 15 x 11 inches

Jam-packed juxtapositions of jagged, jutting, jammed and jumbled junk joyfully and judiciously joined. – Caption from the New York Times Best Illustrated book of the year – “An Abstract Alphabet.”

W – Wrapped Wishes, wax, wool, objects, and wire, various sizes, from 12 x 16 inches to 29 x 22 inches

White waxy wall hangings, wrinkled and wavy—one wonders what’s within? – Caption from the New York Times Best Illustrated book of the year – “An Abstract Alphabet.”

S – “Souvenir Series” powder-coated steel, various sizes from 6 1/4 x 3 x 1 1/2 inches to 8 x 4 x 2 inches

Several sizes of shiny, solid, spoon-shaped, semiabstract sanguine, silver, and slate black sculptural statuettes standing on similar sleek-surfaced spheres, sunken in simple square stands with slits, cast soft, svelte, sinuous shadows. – Caption from the New York Times Best Illustrated book of the year – “An Abstract Alphabet.”