Claudette Johnson

Last updated

Claudette Johnson
MBE RA
Born
Claudette Elaine Johnson

1959 (age 64–65)
Manchester, England
Alma mater Wolverhampton Polytechnic
Known forVisual artist
Movement BLK Art Group
Elected Royal Academy of Arts (2024)

Claudette Elaine Johnson MBE RA (born 1959) is a British visual artist. She is known for her large-scale drawings of Black women and her involvement with the BLK Art Group, of which she was a founder member. She was described by Modern Art Oxford as "one of the most accomplished figurative artists working in Britain today". [1] A finalist for the Turner Prize in 2024, Johnson was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts the same year. [2]

Contents

Her work is in a number of public collections, including the Tate Britain, Arts Council England, Manchester Art Gallery.

Biography

Claudette Johnson was born in Manchester, UK. She studied Fine Art at Wolverhampton Polytechnic. While still a student there, she became a founder member of the BLK Art Group and took part in their second show at the Africa Centre, London, in 1983. [3] Her talk, and seminar, at the First National Black Arts Conference in 1982 is recognised as a formative moment in the Black feminist art movement in the UK. [4]

Johnson's work has featured in important group exhibitions such as Five Black Women at London's Africa Centre Gallery in 1983, Black Woman Time Now at Battersea Arts Centre in the same year, and The Thin Black Line at the ICA in London in 1986. [5] Reviewing her 1992 solo exhibition In This Skin: Drawings by Claudette Johnson, at the Black Art Gallery, London, artist Steve McQueen (at the time a student at Goldsmiths College) wrote: "What she does is to bring out the soul, sensuality, dignity, and spirituality of the black woman....Claudette Johnson's work is rooted in her African heritage. Her talent is as powerful as it is obvious." [6]

Lubaina Himid describes Johnson's work as "deeply sensuous" and "richly coloured". [7] The artist calls the Black women in her drawings "monoliths, larger than life versions of women". [7] Eddie Chambers notes: "These portraits were imposing pieces that demanded the viewer’s attention, as well as their respect." [8]

In 2011, Johnson co-founded the BLK Arts Research Group with Marlene Smith and Keith Piper, [9] to re-examine the BLK Arts Group's body of work and historical legacy. In 2012, two major projects were staged by this research group: a symposium with a retrospective exhibition entitled The Blk Art Group was held at the Graves Gallery, Sheffield, and an international conference entitled "Reframing the Moment" was held at the University of Wolverhampton. [9] Her work was included in the Guildhall Art Gallery exhibition No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990 (10 July 2015 – 24 January 2016). [10]

Johnson had a solo exhibition at Hollybush Gardens, London (17 November 2017 – 22 December 2017), [11] where a series of seven of her large-scale works on paper was presented, about which Frieze magazine said: "As a body of work, it possesses a profound and tender intimacy." [12]

In 2019, Johnson's first major institutional exhibition since 1990 was held at Modern Art Oxford, the show being described as "an overview of one of the most accomplished figurative artists working in Britain today....her art sets out to redress negative portrayals of black men and women and to counter the invisibility of black people in cultural spheres and beyond." [1] The reviewer for Art Fund wrote: "Intimate, powerful and sometimes deliberately uncomfortable, Claudette Johnson’s studies of black men and women demand attention and command respect." [13] According to Apollo magazine: "While Johnson asserts that blackness is a fiction created by colonialism, she insists that this fiction 'can be interrupted by an encounter with the stories that we have to tell about ourselves'. Johnson's subjects, by turns defiant and wary, funny and challenging, represent the varieties of stories that can be told by, in the artist’s words, 'Blackwoman presence.' As Johnson says, 'I’m interested in our humanity, our feelings and our politics.' Her art encapsulates all this in the tenderness and willfulness of the individual human form." [14]

Claudette Johnson: Presence at the Courtauld Gallery opened in September 2023, marking the first monographic show of Johnson's work at a major public gallery in London. [15] A critic at The Guardian praised the way Johnson "brilliantly questions depictions of non-white figures by such revered painters as Gauguin and Picasso", adding that "the quiet power of Johnson's current work leaves theory behind" and "invites a more meditative response". [16]

Johnson's work is in the collections of the Tate Britain, Rugby Art Gallery, Arts Council England, Mappin Art Gallery, Manchester Art Gallery, Herbert Art Gallery, Baltimore Museum of Art, The Fitzwilliam Museum, and Wolverhampton Art Gallery. [17] [2]

Johnson was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to art. [18] In 2022, she received an honorary doctorate from Wolverhampton University, where she graduated from with a degree in Fine Art in 1982. [19]

Her solo exhibitions Presence at the Courtauld Gallery, in London, and her first New York solo show Drawn Out at Ortuzar Projects, are cited in her nomination as one of the four finalists for the 2024 Turner Prize. [20] [21] [22] She was elected to the Royal Academy in March 2024. [2]

Notable commissions include: a portrait of Stuart Hall by Merton College, University of Oxford; [23] a mural at Brixton tube station, entitled "Three Women", [24] commissioned by Art on the Underground and unveiled in October 2024; [25] [26] [27] and a portrait of transnational activist Sarah Parker Remond commissioned by The Guardian in 2023 as part of its Cotton Capital project. [28] [29]

Selected exhibitions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridget Riley</span> British painter (born 1931)

Bridget Louise Riley is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Fry</span> English painter and critic (1866–1934)

Roger Eliot Fry was an English painter and critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent developments in French painting, to which he gave the name Post-Impressionism. He was the first figure to raise public awareness of modern art in Britain, and emphasised the formal properties of paintings over the "associated ideas" conjured in the viewer by their representational content. He was described by the art historian Kenneth Clark as "incomparably the greatest influence on taste since Ruskin ... In so far as taste can be changed by one man, it was changed by Roger Fry". The taste Fry influenced was primarily that of the Anglophone world, and his success lay largely in alerting an educated public to a compelling version of recent artistic developments of the Parisian avant-garde.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Saunders</span> English painter (1885–1963)

Helen Saunders was an English painter associated with the Vorticist movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pauline Boty</span> British pop art painter (1938–1966)

Pauline Boty was a British painter and co-founder of the 1960s' British Pop art movement of which she was the only acknowledged female member. Boty's paintings and collages often demonstrate a joy in self-assured femininity and female sexuality, as well as criticism of the "man's world" in which she lived. Her rebellious art, combined with her free-spirited lifestyle, has made Boty a herald of 1970s' feminism.

Lesley Sanderson is a Malaysian British artist. Her work typically focuses on explorations of her duel-heritage identity and its relationship with art. Sanderson's work has been displayed in exhibitions internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BP Portrait Award</span> Annual portraiture competition in England

The BP Portrait Award was an annual portraiture competition held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England. It is the successor to the John Player Portrait Award. It is the most important portrait prize in the world, and is reputedly one of the most prestigious competitions in contemporary art. Starting in 2024, the National Portrait Gallery’s portrait competition resumed under the new sponsorship of international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills.

Dame Sonia Dawn Boyce is a British Afro-Caribbean artist and educator who lives and works in London. She is a Professor of Black Art and Design at University of the Arts London. Boyce's research interests explore art as a social practice and the critical and contextual debates that arise from this area of study. Boyce has been closely collaborating with other artists since 1990 with a focus on collaborative work, frequently involving improvisation and unplanned performative actions on the part of her collaborators. Boyce's work involves a variety of media, such as drawing, print, photography, video, and sound. Her art explores "the relationship between sound and memory, the dynamics of space, and incorporating the spectator". To date, Boyce has taught Fine Art studio practice for more than 30 years in several art colleges across the UK.

Eileen Cooper is a British artist, known primarily as a painter and printmaker.

Keith Piper is a British artist, curator, critic and academic. He was a founder member of the groundbreaking BLK Art Group, an association of black British art students, mostly based in the West Midlands region of the UK.

Donald Gladstone Rodney was a British artist. He was a leading figure in Britain's BLK Art Group of the 1980s and became recognised as "one of the most innovative and versatile artists of his generation." Rodney's work appropriated images from the mass media, art and popular culture to explore issues of racial identity and racism.

Rita A Donagh is a British artist, known for her realistic paintings and painstaking draughtsmanship.

The BLK Art Group was the name chosen in 1982 by a group of five influential conceptual artists, painters, sculptors and installation artists based in England. Keith Piper, Marlene Smith, Eddie Chambers and Donald Rodney were initially based in the Midlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lubaina Himid</span> British artist and curator (born 1954)

Lubaina Himid is a British artist and curator. She is a professor of contemporary art at the University of Central Lancashire. Her art focuses on themes of cultural history and reclaiming identities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanley Burke</span> British Jamaican photographer and artist (born 1951)

Vanley Burke is a British Jamaican photographer and artist. His photographs capture experiences of his community's arrival in Britain, the different landscapes and cultures he encountered, the different ways of survival and experiences of the wider African-Caribbean community.

Nicola Hicks is an English sculptor, known for her works made using straw and plaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chila Kumari Burman</span> British artist

Chila Kumari Singh Burman is a British artist, celebrated for her radical feminist practice, which examines representation, gender and cultural identity. She works across a wide range of mediums including printmaking, drawing, painting, installation and film.

Rita Keegan, is an American-born artist, lecturer and archivist, based in England since the late 1970s. She is a multi-media artist whose work uses video and digital technologies. Keegan is best known for her involvement with in the UK's Black Arts Movement in the 1980s and her work documenting artists of colour in Britain.

Joy Gregory is a British artist. Gregory's work explores concerns related to race, gender and cultural differences in contemporary society. Her work has been published and exhibited worldwide and is held in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and Government Art Collection in the UK.

Rosalind Polly Blakesley is a prize-winning author, art historian and academic. She has taught art history at the University of Cambridge and been a Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge since 2002, and has been Professor of Russian and European Art since 2018. She previously worked at Queen's College, Oxford, the Russian Institute of Art History, Newcastle University, and the University of Kent. She has been selected to take up the office of Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, following the retirement of Lord Chris Smith of Finsbury on 1 October 2025.

Joy Labinjo is a British–Nigerian artist based in London, England. Born in 1994, she is known for her large colorful figure paintings with flattened perspective that take inspiration from her collection of old family photos, found photos and historical archives. Her paintings usually explore themes of culture, identity, race and belonging through her depictions of Black individuals and families in everyday situations while also drawing from her experiences growing up as a British-Nigerian woman in the U.K.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Claudette Johnson: I Came to Dance | 1 June — 8 September 2019". Modern Art Oxford . 2019. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "Claudette Johnson | Artist | Royal Academy of Arts". Royal Academy of Arts . Archived from the original on 11 May 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  3. ↑ "Keith Piper, a short history". keithpiper.info/. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  4. ↑ "Politics of the Art School: Black Art Movement Then and Now". Nottingham Contemporary. 30 April 2015. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Claudette Johnson". Diaspora Artists. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  6. ↑ McQueen, Steven (August 1992), "In This Skin: featuring Claudette Johnson", African Peoples Review, p. 5. Quoted in Eddie Chambers (2014), Black Artists in British Art: A History from 1950 to the Present, pp. 146–147.
  7. 1 2 3 Biswas, Sutapa; et al. (2011). Thin Black Line(s) (PDF). Making Histories Visible Project, Centre for Contemporary Art, UCLAN. ISBN   978-0-9571579-0-3.
  8. ↑ Chambers, Eddie (2014), Black Artists in British Art: A History from 1950 to the Present, I.B. Tauris, p. 146.
  9. 1 2 "Blk Art Group Research Project 2012". www.blkartgroup.info.
  10. ↑ "Claudette Johnson", No Colour Bar website.
  11. ↑ "Claudette Johnson", ArtRabbit.
  12. ↑ Dyer, Sonya (14 December 2017), "Claudette Johnson" (review), Frieze.
  13. ↑ "Claudette Johnson: I Came to Dance: Modern Art Oxford: 1 June – 8 September 2019", ArtFund.
  14. ↑ Caddell, Jillian (28 June 2019), "Claudette Johnson’s body of work feels as necessary as ever", Apollo.
  15. ↑ "Claudette Johnson: Presence opens at The Courtauld Gallery". The Courtauld. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  16. ↑ Jones, Jonathan (28 September 2023). "Claudette Johnson: Presence review – subtle swipes at the exploitative modern masters". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  17. ↑ "About the Artists". Thin Black Line(s), Tate Britain, 2012. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  18. ↑ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N20.
  19. ↑ "CLASS OF 2022: Black Arts Movement artist puts an honorary award in the frame". University of Wolverhampton . Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  20. ↑ Bakare, Lanre (24 April 2024). "Claudette Johnson's art for Cotton Capital nominated for Turner prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  21. ↑ Lawson-Tancred, Jo (24 April 2024). "Here Are the Artists Nominated for the 2024 Turner Prize". Artnet News. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  22. ↑ Adesina, Precious (30 October 2024). "Claudette Johnson's New Mural Recasts Picasso's Famed 'Demoiselles' With Powerful Black Women". Artnet . Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  23. ↑ "Portrait of Stuart Hall by Claudette Johnson celebrated at Merton". Merton College, Oxford. 26 May 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  24. ↑ "Three Women". Art on the Underground. 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  25. ↑ "2024 Programme Announcement". Art on the Underground. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  26. ↑ "New mural by Turner Prize nominee Claudette Johnson launches at Brixton Tube station". Transport for London. 25 October 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  27. ↑ "Leading black artist unveils Brixton station mural". BBC News. 25 October 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  28. ↑ Bakare, Lanre (1 April 2023). "Painting a new pantheon: portrait series honours Black radicals". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  29. ↑ Bakare, Lanre (31 March 2023). "The radicals: from abolitionists to activists, new portraits of those who resisted slavery". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  30. 1 2 3 4 5 Chambers, Eddie (2014). Black Artists in British Art: A History from 1950 to the Present. I.B.Tauris. pp. 254–. ISBN   978-1-78076-272-2.
  31. ↑ Ratnam, Niru (2002). "Black Woman Time Now". In Donnell, Alison (ed.). Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture. Routledge. pp. 49–. ISBN   978-1-134-70025-7.
  32. ↑ "Claudette Johnson, Hollybush Gardens, London", GalleriesNow.
  33. ↑ "Claudette Johnson: Presence". The Courtauld. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  34. ↑ Morris, Kadish (9 March 2023). "An Artist Returns After a 'Long Wilderness'". The New York Times . Retrieved 26 April 2024.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.