SEATTLE — Grief is a universal experience, yet the topic remains quiet in conversation, said local artist Barry Johnson. After losing his brother to alcoholism last year, Johnson’s latest art exhibit tackles grieving publicly – with the backdrop of the Pacific Northwest.
The artwork of 39-year-old Johnson, who is from Federal Way, can be seen on Seattle streets or on a recent Kraken jersey collaboration. His new exhibit, “never leave without saying goodbye,” explores addiction and the healing power of Washington's landscape.
In 2023, his older brother Brandon died at age 44 after battling alcoholism and a painkiller addiction. He also lost two cousins to fentanyl overdoses within the same year.
“I decided to spend the year working on a collection of works that were about grieving very privately in public places,” he said. “What I started to do is just find these different spaces throughout the Pacific Northwest that already held very near and dear to me.”
Johnson visited some of western Washington's most beautiful sites, including his personal favorite of 5 Mile Drive in Tacoma. He lay by the water's edge or climbed and sat in trees. He let himself feel. After, he brought documentation of his experience back to the studio and began painting his collection of over a dozen works.
Publicly grieving, it turns out, was horrible, Johnson said. It was vulnerable and often uncomfortable, he said, to grieve in the presence of others and also to confront his emotions head-on.
One of his paintings is titled, “My first cry in 20 years.” Between the birth of his daughter, marrying his partner and dozens of other significant life events, Johnson said he never shed a tear. Until he was among the trees.
None of his art pieces are site-specific because “grief is something we all feel,” Johnson said. “I wanted anyone that would be sitting outside in a park, around any tree, to know that feeling of light coming through and being overwhelmed with emotions.”
Just weeks before his brother passed, Johnson spoke to him on the phone. They talked, laughed and said goodbye. That was their last conversation and prompted the exhibit's name: “never leave without saying goodbye.”
Nearly 500 people per day die from excessive alcohol use in the United States, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Washington also ranks third nationally for the highest number of adults with substances abuse disorders at 18.6% or 1.1 million people affected, according to the 2023 State of Mental Health in America report.
Historically, Johnson said, works of Black artists often had urban environments as backdrops. His series aims to reclaim what it means for Black people to exist and enjoy the outdoors.
“Whenever I started to think about the process of healing, and really thinking about what it meant to tap into my feelings as a Black man, that's not something that space has been allotted for us to be able to do,” he said. “You take these things on the chin and you move forward, or you bury your emotions behind substance and then end up in the same cycle. I didn't want to do that.”
Johnson said he hopes the art exhibit makes space for people to understand addiction is something many people suffer from, first-hand or as a witness.
“It's okay to lean into your feelings. It's okay to have conversations about it,” he said. “It's okay to feel a loss and maybe being able to connect and really dive into your feelings can help you through it.”
More than a dozen of his artworks are on display at Winston Wächter Fine Art gallery in Seattle (203 Dexter Avenue) through April 16, with some remaining on display after.
