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Claudette-Johnson-Exhibition-Notes Upper Gallery 7. Figure in raw umber, 2018 12. Afterbirth, 1990 Piper Gallery 1. Standing Figure, 2017 Pastels on paper Pastel on paper 16. Reclining Figure, 2017 21. Untitled (with wool and leather), 1982 Acrylic paint, pastel and masking tape on paper Tate: Purchased 2019 Courtesy the artist and Hollybush Pastel and gouache paint on paper Pastel, gouache paint, silver paper, Rugby Art Gallery and Museum Gardens, London Halamish Collection, London leather and wool ‘Although I don’t believe that there is an Courtesy the artist and Hollybush essential truth that artists can convey through This work was included in Johnson’s important 2. Untitled (Yellow Blocks), 2019 1 7. And I Have My Own Business In This Gardens, London representation, I do believe that the fiction of 1992 solo exhibition at The Black-Art Gallery in Pastel and gouache paint on paper Skin, 1982 “blackness” that is the legacy of colonialism Finsbury Park, London, then led by Marlene Courtesy the artist and Hollybush Pastel and gouache paint on paper 22. Standing Figure with African Masks, 2018 can be interrupted by an encounter with the Smith, entitled In This Skin: Drawings by Gardens, London Museums Sheffield Pastel, gouache paint and ground on paper stories that we have to tell about ourselves.’ Claudette Johnson. A young Steve McQueen Tate: Purchased using funds provided by the ‘I wanted to look at how women occupy space. ‘Pushing the pastels around on oversized – Claudette Johnson reviewed the show, describing the works as 2018 Frieze Tate Fund supported by Endeavor I’d made a series of semi-abstract works sheets forces me to build the forms in a ‘overwhelmingly arresting. They invite, and to benefit the Tate collection 2019 physical process that is almost at the limits 8. Seated Figure I, 2017 envelope the viewer to mediate in the enquiring featuring the figure in which I’d become more of my capacity. Being slightly out of control Pastel and gouache paint on paper and exploratory space of Johnson’s immensely and more interested in how the figure could ‘I first saw Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, of the process, through working on the wall Tate: Purchased 2019 imaginative and absorbing mind.’ reach out to the boundaries of the frame, 1907, (in reproduction), as a second year Fine rather than on an easel, having the sitter behind sometimes contained, sometimes existing Art student. I was struck by the rawness of the rather than in front of me, helps me to keep 9. Figure in Blue, 2018 13. Untitled (Standing Woman), 1990 beyond the frame.’ image, the fractured space, his use of African an element of struggle in the drawings.’ Pastels, gouache paint and watercolour on paper Pastel on paper – Claudette Johnson imagery and the fearlessness of the women. – Claudette Johnson Arts Council Collection, Southbank Wolverhampton Arts & Culture I referred to this work in And I Have My Own 18. eh eh bwana, c.1982 Business In This Skin, 1982, in which a spiky Centre, London The influence of Toulouse-Lautrec’s bold poster ‘I’m not interested in portraiture or its tradition. Mixed media Afro-haired woman with her arm raised and designs can be seen in this new work, which I’m interested in giving space to Blackwoman Courtesy of Dr. Ingrid Pollard stomach thrust forward is bisected by a jagged foregrounds the artist’s sculpting of the figure presence. A presence which has been distorted, yellow line. In Standing Figure with African against a flat surface of brightly coloured hidden and denied. I’m interested in our 19. I Came to Dance, 1982 Masks, the woman with her belly exposed geometric shapes. humanity, our feelings and our politics. Pastel and gouache paint on paper directs her gaze out of the frame whilst being Some things which have been neglected.’ Rebecca Wilson aware that she must negotiate a relationship with the African masked figures who are 3. Trilogy (Part One) Woman in Blue, 1982–86 – Claudette Johnson ‘In my own mind, I understand the idea of Trilogy (Part Two) Woman in Black, 1982–86 moving in from the periphery.’ blackness as a construct and my sexuality – Claudette Johnson Trilogy (Part Three) Woman in Red, 1982–86 as another construct that we have to try and Watercolour, gouache paint and pastel on paper unpick… and I was trying to meld all of these Arts Council Collection, Southbank 23. Seven Bullets, 2015 Upper Gallery thoughts and feelings – half-formed and Centre, London Pastel and gouache paint on paper Valeria and Gregorio Napoleone ‘Johnson’s figures directly address the viewer, Collection, London making eye contact straight on in the central 3 4 5 Middle Gallery 1 panel, and from the side in the other two works. Johnson makes use of certain repeated poses Each figure is in an oppositional gaze that 6 and postures in her work, such as the raised arm gesture in this drawing. She later adapted this charges the field of spectatorship between 2 pose for other works, featuring both men and the viewer and the drawing, making the 10 Piper Gallery women. The artist considers it a gesture of process of regaining control of the gaze exposure – both vulnerable and assertive. one of manipulating agency.’ 1 – Courtney J. Martin, art historian 13 23 24. Untitled, 1987 24 22 12 11 25 Pastel and gouache paint on paper 4. Figure with figurine, 2019 7 Courtesy the artist and Hollybush Acrylic paint, gouache paint and pastel on paper Gardens, London Courtesy the artist and Hollybush 9 8 14 Gardens, London 21 16 25. Untitled, 1983 Pastel and gouache paint on paper The figurine represented in this new work 20 is a fertility symbol from Ivory Coast, which 18 19 Museums Sheffield 15 17 the artist saw reproduced in a book of African ‘I was trying to collapse together ideas about sculpture. Johnson explains that she is trying the colonial subject, the body, slavery, racism, to understand her own relationship to these Middle Gallery 2 sexuality, golliwogs, dolls, caricature, because I figures through their appropriation by early wanted to look at the things that I felt I shouldn’t 20th century European artists and later be looking at. I wanted to start talking about circulation throughout art history. things I shouldn’t say – these unsayable, uncomfortable things, were actually very 5. Figure with Raised Arms, 2017 Middle Gallery 1 Middle Gallery 2 fragmentary – into a single image. In the end, powerful imagery sources.’ Pastel and gouache paint on paper 10. Untitled, 2015 14. Ink Study (Head), 2017 I felt I was celebrating something about black – Claudette Johnson Private Collection, North America Pastel and gouache on paper Indian ink on paper women, rather than just pain and suffering – the Valeria and Gregorio Napoleone Courtesy the artist and Hollybush fact of enduring. By making the image, I’d given ‘This piece emerged from the sense of urgency Collection, London Gardens, London space to a history that isn’t often made visible.’ I felt about the threats to black masculinity from – Claudette Johnson Please ask our Visitor Assistants if you have prevailing notions of race in white society. In 11. Untitled, 1990 15. Sketchbook Drawings, 2018–19 any questions. having my youngest son sit for this work, I was Pastel on paper Four sheets, pastel on paper, gouache 20. Untitled (Woman with Earring), 1982 able to explore the personal as well as the Courtesy the artist and Hollybush paint on paper, acrylic paint on paper Pastels and wax carbon on paper Claudette Johnson: I Came to Dance is supported by political impact of this moment.’ Gardens, London Courtesy the artist and Hollybush Courtesy Lubaina Himid the Claudette Johnson Exhibition Circle and – Claudette Johnson Gardens, London Hollybush Gardens, London. ‘I work with the tension of a society committed ‘Johnson’s Woman with Earring shows a naked black woman in an expressive pose 6. Seated Figure II, 2017 to distorting, controlling and mis-defining Blackwomen. Yet I continue to find expression celebrating her physical beauty. […] Timeless, Pastel and gouache paint on paper context-less, even mythical, her iconic subjectivity British Council Collection in images of black pastel women, chaotic and austere, pushing against the boundaries of dominates the picture plane in defiance of white white paper.’ voyeuristic attempts to commodify or appropriate – Claudette Johnson black womanhood.’ – Celeste-Marie Bernier, art historian Designed by narratestudio.co.uk "I’m not interested in portraiture or its tradition. I’m During the early 1980s, Johnson became a prominent member of the Blk interested in giving space to Blackwoman presence. Art Group, which originated in Wolverhampton. This group of artists, which A presence which has been distorted, hidden and included Eddie Chambers, Keith Piper, Donald Rodney, Marlene Smith and Johnson, came together to explore and represent their own experiences as denied. I’m interested in our humanity, our feelings young black artists in UK art schools. They organised several influential group and our politics." exhibitions, many of which featured Johnson’s work. In 1982 they also – Claudette Johnson convened the First National Black Arts Conference, at which Johnson led a pioneering discussion on black feminist art and her encounters with black female subjects in Western art history. This discussion led to the formation Throughout her career, Claudette Johnson (b. 1959, Manchester) has continually of an informal yet sustaining network of black women artists. As Keith Piper questioned the boundaries imposed upon black women, musing that ‘a very declared in an early manifesto of the Blk Art Group: ‘let us bend our art into small twisted space is offered.’ To redress this balance, Johnson invites her an ensign around which to rally the people.’ sitters to ‘take up space in a way that is reflective of who they are’, thereby ensuring they are active collaborators in the way they are presented.
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