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Artist

CLAUDETTE JOHNSON

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Artist

CLAUDETTE JOHNSON

CLAUDETTE JOHNSON - Artists - Ortuzar

Biography

Claudette Johnson’s recent works in oil, oil stick and egg tempera convey an unmistakable Black presence, compensating for the persistent distortions and erasures that obfuscate the Black figure in art. Traditionally working with pastel, watercolor and gouache, the artist brings a sense of vibrancy and material density to her full-scale paintings, usually captured from life. In an exploration of vulnerability, comfort, candidness and power, Johnson foregrounds the complexity of humanity in any shared encounter, granting her subjects their right to selfhood in the experience of being seen. 

Johnson started her career as one of the co-founders of the BLK Art Group, which she joined in 1981 while still a student at Wolverhampton University. In an effort to bring young Black artists from Wolverhampton University together, the BLK Art Group organized the historic First National Black Art Convention in 1982, attended by several influential contemporary artists like Frank Bowling, Lubaina Himid, Rasheed Araeen and Sonia Boyce. The lecture Johnson delivered at the convention on depicting Black woman figures within Western art history—notably the only presentation by a woman artist—erupted into a heated dialogue. The discussion catalyzed the formation of a network of women artists at the forefront of the British Black Art Movement. 

Claudette Johnson (b. 1959, Manchester, UK) lives and works in London. She has recently exhibited solo projects at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham, England (2024); The Courtauld Gallery, London (2024); Hollybush Gardens, London (2021); Modern Art Oxford (2019); and Hollybush Gardens, London (2017). Johnson has participated in numerous group exhibitions including The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure, National Portrait Gallery, London (2024); The Time of Our Lives, Drawing Room, London (2024); In Praise of Black Errantry, Unit, la Biennale di Venezia, Venice (2024); Drawing Time: Duets, Sharjah Art Foundation (2024); Women in Revolt!: Art and Activism in the UK 1970—1990, Tate Britain (2024); Rock My Soul II (Stockholm), Galleri Futura, Stockholm (2022); Courtauld Connections: Works from our National Partners, The Project Space, The Courtauld Gallery, London (2022); Drawing Closer, RISD Museum, Providence, Rhode Island (2022); Me, Myself and I: Artists’ Self-Portraits, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, England (2022); Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art 50s—Now, Tate Britain, London, England (2021); From Hockney to Himid: Sixty Years of British Printmaking, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, England (2021); Close: Drawn Portraits, The Drawing Room, London, England (2018); The Place Is Here, South London Gallery and Nottingham Contemporary, UK (2017); No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960-1990, Guildhall Art Gallery, London, (2015-16); and Thin Black Line(s), Tate Britain, London (2012). Her work is held in numerous public collections, including Tate, London; British Council Collection, London; Arts Council Collection, London; Manchester Art Gallery; Wolverhampton Art Gallery; Rugby Museum; and Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry, England. She is also shortlisted for the Turner Prize (2024).

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Works

Works Thumbnails
Claudette Johnson, Untitled, 1982

Claudette Johnson, Untitled, 1982

Claudette Johnson, And I Have My Own Business In This Skin, 1982

Claudette Johnson, And I Have My Own Business In This Skin, 1982

Claudette Johnson, Trilogy (Part Two) Woman in Black, 1982-86

Claudette Johnson, Trilogy (Part Two) Woman in Black, 1982-86

Claudette Johnson, Afterbith, 1990

Claudette Johnson, Afterbith, 1990

Claudette Johnson, Reclining Figure, 2017

Claudette Johnson, Reclining Figure, 2017

Claudette Johnson, Standing Figure with African Masks, 2018

Claudette Johnson, Standing Figure with African Masks, 2018

Claudette Johnson, Figure with Figurine, 2019

Claudette Johnson, Figure with Figurine, 2019

Claudette Johnson, Untitled Blocks, 2019

Claudette Johnson, Untitled Blocks, 2019

Claudette Johnson, Kind of Blue, 2020

Claudette Johnson, Kind of Blue, 2020

Claudette Johnson, Young Man on Yellow, 2021

Claudette Johnson, Young Man on Yellow, 2021

Claudette Johnson, Seated Figure in Blue, 2021

Claudette Johnson, Seated Figure in Blue, 2021

Claudette Johnson, Study for painting, 2022

Claudette Johnson, Study for painting, 2022

Claudette Johnson, Self-Study, 2022

Claudette Johnson, Self-Study, 2022

Claudette Johnson, Untitled, 1982
Claudette Johnson, And I Have My Own Business In This Skin, 1982
Claudette Johnson, Trilogy (Part Two) Woman in Black, 1982-86
Claudette Johnson, Afterbith, 1990
Claudette Johnson, Reclining Figure, 2017
Claudette Johnson, Standing Figure with African Masks, 2018
Claudette Johnson, Figure with Figurine, 2019
Claudette Johnson, Untitled Blocks, 2019
Claudette Johnson, Kind of Blue, 2020
Claudette Johnson, Young Man on Yellow, 2021
Claudette Johnson, Seated Figure in Blue, 2021
Claudette Johnson, Study for painting, 2022
Claudette Johnson, Self-Study, 2022

Videos

Claudette Johnson: Giving Space to the Presence of a Black Woman | Tate Modern

Exhibitions

Claudette Johnson
Exhibition
Claudette Johnson
Drawn Out March 9 – April 29, 2023

Art Fairs

Art Basel Miami Beach 2024
Art Fair
Art Basel Miami Beach 2024
December 6 – December 8, 2024
Art Basel Miami Beach 2023
Art Fair
Art Basel Miami Beach 2023
December 6 – 10, 2023

Press

News

Claudette Johnson interviewed by Ocula

Claudette Johnson on Power and Self Determination by Tendai John Mutambu

November 29, 2024

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News

Claudette Johnson featured in Artnet

Claudette Johnson’s New Mural Recasts Picasso’s Famed ‘Demoiselles’ With Powerful Black Women by Precious Adesina

October 30, 2024

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News

Claudette Johnson featured in BBC News

Leading black artist unveils Brixton station mural

October 25, 2024

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News

Claudette Johnson featured in Elle

Into The Frame: Pioneering Women In The Art Industry

October 11, 2024

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News

Claudette Johnson featured in The Times

Finally, the abject Turner prize is worth a look by Waldemar Januszczak

September 29, 2024

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News

Claudette Johnson interviewed by The Times

Meet Claudette Johnson, our critic's tip to win the 2024 Turner prize by Laura Freeman

June 20, 2024

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News

Claudette Johnson featured in The Guardian

Claudette Johnson’s art for Cotton Capital nominated for Turner prize by Lanre Bakare

April 24, 2024

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News

CLAUDETTE JOHNSON FEATURED IN FRIEZE

Claudette Johnson Asserts Her Place in Art History BY IVANA CHOLAKOVA

JANUARY 4, 2024

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News

CLAUDETTE JOHNSON FEATURED IN FINANCIAL TIMES

Claudette Johnson, Courtauld Gallery review — rich portraits of black lives draw on centuries of tradition

December 9, 2023

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News

CLAUDETTE JOHNSON FEATURED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES

'I AM PART OF THE STORY OF ART' BY FARAH NAYERI

October 6, 2023

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News

Claudette Johnson Featured in Cultured Magazine

This Week In Culture: March 13-19, 2023 by Ana Altchek

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News

CLAUDETTE JOHNSON INTERVIEWED IN T MAGAZINE

An Artist Returns After a ‘Long Wilderness’ by Kadish Morris

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