As part of the PVAMU Fine Arts Week, Professor Ann Johnson hosted the “Art As Activism” lecture series. This year’s theme was The Art of Black Resistance. Since the series’ inception, Johnson has brought in her “sisters and brothers-in-art” to produce the series. In 2015, Rabea Ballin and Johnson presented the inaugural presentation. The following year, in 2016, Johnson presented the lecture with Houston based artist Anthony Suber. This year, Anthony Suber was tasked with the responsibilities of jurying the student art competition. Delita Martin was asked to juror the student art competition in 2016. Both Johnson and her co-hosts selected pieces to reflect that particular year’s theme. This year, Johnson solely found art that supported the theme, “The Art of Black Resistance”.
For a month, she searched to find pieces that separated resistance from history. Artists whose work she was familiar with served as the content for the series. Johnson also referenced the work of artists she uses in her curriculum. Having a wide selection to choose from, Johnson said she had to narrow down the amount of artists she featured. Johnson referenced the work of both new and old artists whose work made a statement and engaged her audience. Recently, R&B singer Beyoncé released pregnancy photos that referenced Venus by Edouard Manet. Johnson used those photos as an example of a resistance of the standard ideal of beauty and compared them to the original artwork produced in the 1860s. “I’m always impressed with Beyonce’s knowledge of art and how she connects with art history, ”said Johnson, “For her generation and followers, she’s creating an insight that they might not have been aware of.”
Students were required to complete a worksheet that engaged them in the process of the lecture. She asked what images they found interesting, what triggered their interests and how the lecture changed their perception of art. The event feedback Johnson received from the students was great. “I’m surprised and shocked they wrote so much,” said Johnson. “The lecture series is important and I wish more students would come because this is a new generation of activism,” said Johnson. At the end of the lecture, she provided her work as an example to show students different levels of activism. Johnson said you never know what could trigger a movement, “Activism can’t be a hashtag, you have to active.”
Students submitted their version of activism in the 2017 Juried Student Art Competition through the following mediums: painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, mixed media, photography and video. “I was surprised that the kids were that woke,” said Johnson, “they really went in”. The work students submitted reflected this year’s Black History Month theme, “Crisis in Black Education: Black Lives Matter”. Winners were announced at the Exhibition held Thurs. Feb. 16th in the J.B. Coleman Library – First Floor Art Gallery.
Written by Jourdan B. Scruggs