The 2020 exhibition year opens this week in Taft's Mark W. Potter Gallery with works by Atlanta-based painter, mixed-media artist, and ritual performance artist Angela Davis Johnson. Davis Johnson will be on campus for an opening reception Friday, January 10 from 5 pm to 7 pm. The event is free and open to the public.
Davis Johnson's work finds its pulse in the evolving identity of African-Americans—particularly African-American women—throughout history. Informed by the wisdom of the matriarchs in her family, Davis Johnson creates paintings, sculptures, installations, and ritual performances to examine and archive the technologies of black folks. Merging art into a contemplative practice she embodies Live Dreaming—a process of deep listening, imagining, constructing, and recording personal and community ancestry.
"I believe human bodies are geographies and landscapes of past lives, histories, and truths," says Davis Johnson. "I come from generations of healers, makers, fighters, migrants, domestic workers, seed planters, and creators who existed and labored mostly in the United States south. I have been collecting their narratives since I was a child and continue to add to their tales through conversations with other kindred spirits such as black women creatives. It is through their stories that I learn to care for myself and make soul connections with creation. Anchored in their ancient spiritual practices, their wisdom and warnings are reflected throughout each piece."
Co-creator of the Hollerin Space, an ongoing experimental healing installation, Davis Johnson has performed in several states in the regional south. She has shown her work in numerous exhibitions, including the Delta Exhibition at Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, AR; Texarkana Regional Arts Center in Texarkana, TX; and Baton Rouge Center for Contemporary Art in Baton Rouge, LA. Her pieces can be seen in galleries and private collections throughout the United States.
Davis Johnson will also speak at Morning Meeting. Her show runs through February 17.
Potter Gallery is open Monday through Friday, 8 am until 5 pm when school is in session. For more information, contact Loueta Chickadaunce, Director, at 860.945.7809.