From collages and painted found materials combined with elements from photography and ceramics, Leroy Johnson (1937-2022) created an eclectic vision of life in his hometown of Philadelphia. Through layered, multi-dimensional portraits of homes, the artist represents places of family life and community in conceptual assemblages that also confront racism, poverty and gentrification.
During the first exhibition of his work in New York City, Margot Samel presents Leroy Johnson, a collection of the artist’s home sculptures, created “with the eye of a documentary filmmaker but with the gaze of a poet,” according to a statement from the gallery. His pieces capture a city in transition and peer into the past to underline the countless experiences of the present.
Through his professions as a social worker, teacher of disabled youth, rehabilitation counselor, and school administrator, Johnson “explored the joys, hardships, and contradictions of the Philadelphia neighborhoods where he spent his life,” says Margot Samel, and he “pierced the boundaries of society ‘. fabric of collective human experience deeper than most.”
Johnson’s abstract, mixed-media houses often include photographs of people and gatherings, graffiti and text, and paint strokes or residual images of found objects. The gallery adds: “As an African American artist who witnessed the civil rights movement and the impact of racist policies on the communities he loved, Johnson took particular joy in depicting the richness of black life.”
Leroy Johnson runs from January 10 to February 9 in New York. Learn more and plan your visit to the galleries website.
