WASHINGTON, DC.- Irvine Contemporary presents an exhibition of new paintings by Aaron Johnson and Barnaby Whitfield, Don’t Be Afraid, You’re Supposed to Be, May 1 – June 5. This extraordinary exhibition is the result of an artistic friendship and a personal dialog about being artists intensely engaged in new directions for painting. Roberta Smith recently observed, “Few modern myths about art have been as persistent or as annoying as the so-called death of painting.” Johnson and Whitfield are part of a generation of artists who know all the arguments and counterarguments about painting, and have made stunningly convincing moves that reinvent the game. Their paintings and mediums are formally very different and highly individuated–Johnson working with acrylics in a multi-layered reverse painting process, and Whitfield in pastels on paper–but they share important strategies and interests: setting