sf sx-70’s

Jack Johnston’s practice incorporates chance and process across a range of media.  He currently lives and works in West Seattle. He received a BA in Liberal Studies, and an MA in Psychology - Integrated Studies, both from Antioch University, Seattle. Johnston is a wellness coach, focusing on tobacco cessation. 

Jack Johnston attended San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) for three years in the mid-seventies. In 1977, he apprenticed in Florence, MA to photographer Bill Arnold. As Jack Fan, from 1979-81 he published two punk fanzines, 20aMPC and Anti-Zine (the original layout copy for both are part of the SF Punk History Collection at the SF Public Library). He wrote music criticism for the Western Assoc. of Rock Disk Jockeys (WARD), from 1982-1993. For the San Francisco New Wave band, Romeo Void, Johnston wrote liner notes for their compilation CD, Warm, In Your Coat, in 1991, and for Live From Mabuhay Gardens, November 14, 1980, released on vinyl for Record Store Day, April 2023. A self-published book of Polaroid self-portraits, Pola-Reds: Confections From the Edge, is in the collection of Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, OR; the library of SFAI; and in the SF Punk Archives at SFPL. As a freelance writer, Johnston contributed “Calculating Beauty,” an essay for Jane Bauman’s Painted Records artist book (2020), and “An Invitation to Engage,” an essay for Junko Yamamoto’s exhibition catalog, Cosmic Web (2023).

Instagram: @_jack_johnston_