Pink Aiguille

The Aiguille du Midi is instantly recognisable here - its jagged summit ridge, the distinctive telecom mast at the top, and the broad lower shoulders of the massif all clearly legible. What Johny does is turn the palette up to full volume. The sky is a vivid, almost aggressive coral red, filling most of the upper canvas and throwing the entire mountain into relief. The mountain itself shifts from deep navy and charcoal at the base through to pinks, mauves, and white where the summit catches the light. The surrounding snow fields and subsidiary ridges glow in the reflected colour of the sky, giving the entire scene an almost volcanic warmth. The painting sits between figurative and expressive - you can read every part of the Aiguille, but nothing is painted to please a camera.

Pink Aiguille is a statement piece about artistic freedom and emotional truth. If you want reality, buy a photograph - but if you want to feel the mountain, live with a painting. The coral sky came from pushing colour beyond what the mountain actually does, into what it feels like when you are standing beneath it at sunset and the light is doing something extraordinary. The Aiguille has a strong enough form to carry a sky that colour without losing itself. The deep navy base keeps it grounded. I have painted this mountain more times than any other, and each version asks a different question. This one asks what happens when you stop being polite about how extraordinary the light actually is.