“Straddling Oceans,” Vanessa Johnson’s retrospective exhibition at the Community Folk Art Center, is definitely wide-ranging. It pays homage not only to historical figures such as Harriet Tubman and Yaa Santewaa, Queen Mother of Ejisu in the Asante Empire, but also to people she’s known — her mother and various mentors and friends.
In addition, the show documents the artist’s ability to improvise, to play with fabric, found objects and other materials. The exhibit presents a slew of mixed-media quilts, small wood boxes and incisive comments written by Johnson.
In one text, she speaks of how “I am African American and African; torn between two continents; two histories that are at war.” Johnson grew up in the Syracuse area and has spent many years here; she has also lived in Ghana, which she calls her second home.
The show features various quilts such as “Procession: Return to the Motherland,” made up of five pieces. It includes “Robert,” with elaborate colors, layers of fabric and a small African mask, and “Wendell.” The latter work integrates blue, brown and orange colors, cowrie shells, a plant pod and other elements.
In “Kente Spirit #1,” Johnson merges stripes, multiple colors, a small segment of lead pipe, a recycled Altoids tin and other objects.
Her work, “High John the Conqueror,” which refers to a legendary character from African American folklore, encompasses batik made by Johnson, soil from Ghana, cloth from that nation and more.
Mentioning those artworks only begins discussion of “Straddling Oceans;” this is a large exhibit. It also display’s Johnson’s work paying tribute to Harriet Tubman, who went on numerous journeys to the South to guide people fleeing slavery in traveling to the North. The piece has imagery of two feet and mentions 382.1 miles, the distance between Dorchester County, Maryland, where Tubman first escaped from slavery, and Syracuse.
And Johnson references Ida B. Wells, a crusading journalist who exposed the many lynchings that took place after the Civil War and during the 20th century. Because of dedication to her work, Wells postponed her wedding several times. Johnson’s piece features a wedding dress.
Another work refers to Yaa Asantewaa, a leader in the Asante Empire, which existed in what is now current-day Ghana. In 1900, she led a rebellion against the British colonial authorities.
Beyond that, the artist references several people she’s known herself. In one work, she pays tribute to the late Safiya Henderson-Holmes, a poet who taught at Syracuse University. Johnson states that Henderson-Holmes “was fire, rain, sarcasm, pain, grace.”
There’s also an artwork discussing her friendship with Cheryl Wilkins-Mitchell, a dancer and teacher of dance. She ran her own studio and served as director of the Syracuse School of Dance, among other roles. The work includes fabric, images of Wilkins processed via photo transfer, and dance shoes.
“The Price of Beauty” discusses Lynn Euson, a student Johnson knew during college days at the University of Houston. Euson was the first African American homecoming queen at that school. She received both congratulations and death threats. During college, she was a journalist, photographer and human-rights activist. In 1971, she was murdered. That crime was never solved.
And “What My Mother Taught Me,” a large piece, refers to Johnson’s mother, Celeste Beatrice Roberts Johnson, attending Tuskegee University and passing along her love of literature to her daughter. The piece mentions titles of several books; James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time” and Sam Greenlee’s “The spook Who Sat by the Door” are among them.
There are a variety of other interesting artworks on display at the Community Folk Art Center. “Ancestral Flow” talks about the music Johnson listened to as a child. Her mother favored show tunes, and her father loved blues and Motown. The piece encompasses soil from Ghana and the United States, recycled music sheets, a repurposed broken drum, street trash and text.
“Middle Passage #1,” which refers to the sailing of slave ships from Africa across the Atlantic to the Americas, is a sobering artwork. It has gray cotton cloth, imagery of 11 ships and the words “Never Forget Us. Remember.”
Finally, “Straddling Oceans” has other vibrant works on display. Don’t miss “The First Birth” and “South Side Angels,” which deals with violence in Syracuse.
The overall exhibit certainly isn’t Johnson’s first show at a local venue. She has an extensive track record including a 2017 solo show at the ArtRage Gallery and a 2022 exhibition staged at both the Schweinfurth Art Center and the Cayuga Museum of History and Art in Auburn. The current exhibition at CFAC is visually engaging, sweeping in its scope, generous in its respect for ancestors and friends.
“Straddling Oceans” is on display through May 6 at the Community Folk Art Center, 805 E. Genesee St. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free.
Vanessa Johnson will deliver an artist’s talk on Friday, April 28, starting at 7 p.m. A reception will follow her talk.
For more information, call 315-442-2230 or access cfac@syr.edu.
Carl Mellor wrote about visual arts for the Syracuse New Times from 1994 through 2019. He continues to cover arts and exhibitions in the Syracuse area.
“Straddling Oceans,” Vanessa Johnson’s retrospective exhibition at the Community Folk Art Center, is definitely wide-ranging. It pays homage not only to historical figures such as Harriet Tubman and Yaa Santewaa, Queen Mother of Ejisu in the Asante Empire, but also to people she’s known — her mother and various mentors and friends.
In addition, the show documents the artist’s ability to improvise, to play with fabric, found objects and other materials. The exhibit presents a slew of mixed-media quilts, small wood boxes and incisive comments written by Johnson.
In one text, she speaks of how “I am African American and African; torn between two continents; two histories that are at war.” Johnson grew up in the Syracuse area and has spent many years here; she has also lived in Ghana, which she calls her second home.
The show features various quilts such as “Procession: Return to the Motherland,” made up of five pieces. It includes “Robert,” with elaborate colors, layers of fabric and a small African mask, and “Wendell.” The latter work integrates blue, brown and orange colors, cowrie shells, a plant pod and other elements.
In “Kente Spirit #1,” Johnson merges stripes, multiple colors, a small segment of lead pipe, a recycled Altoids tin and other objects.
Her work, “High John the Conqueror,” which refers to a legendary character from African American folklore, encompasses batik made by Johnson, soil from Ghana, cloth from that nation and more.
Mentioning those artworks only begins discussion of “Straddling Oceans;” this is a large exhibit. It also display’s Johnson’s work paying tribute to Harriet Tubman, who went on numerous journeys to the South to guide people fleeing slavery in traveling to the North. The piece has imagery of two feet and mentions 382.1 miles, the distance between Dorchester County, Maryland, where Tubman first escaped from slavery, and Syracuse.
And Johnson references Ida B. Wells, a crusading journalist who exposed the many lynchings that took place after the Civil War and during the 20th century. Because of dedication to her work, Wells postponed her wedding several times. Johnson’s piece features a wedding dress.
Another work refers to Yaa Asantewaa, a leader in the Asante Empire, which existed in what is now current-day Ghana. In 1900, she led a rebellion against the British colonial authorities.
Beyond that, the artist references several people she’s known herself. In one work, she pays tribute to the late Safiya Henderson-Holmes, a poet who taught at Syracuse University. Johnson states that Henderson-Holmes “was fire, rain, sarcasm, pain, grace.”
There’s also an artwork discussing her friendship with Cheryl Wilkins-Mitchell, a dancer and teacher of dance. She ran her own studio and served as director of the Syracuse School of Dance, among other roles. The work includes fabric, images of Wilkins processed via photo transfer, and dance shoes.
“The Price of Beauty” discusses Lynn Euson, a student Johnson knew during college days at the University of Houston. Euson was the first African American homecoming queen at that school. She received both congratulations and death threats. During college, she was a journalist, photographer and human-rights activist. In 1971, she was murdered. That crime was never solved.
And “What My Mother Taught Me,” a large piece, refers to Johnson’s mother, Celeste Beatrice Roberts Johnson, attending Tuskegee University and passing along her love of literature to her daughter. The piece mentions titles of several books; James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time” and Sam Greenlee’s “The spook Who Sat by the Door” are among them.
There are a variety of other interesting artworks on display at the Community Folk Art Center. “Ancestral Flow” talks about the music Johnson listened to as a child. Her mother favored show tunes, and her father loved blues and Motown. The piece encompasses soil from Ghana and the United States, recycled music sheets, a repurposed broken drum, street trash and text.
“Middle Passage #1,” which refers to the sailing of slave ships from Africa across the Atlantic to the Americas, is a sobering artwork. It has gray cotton cloth, imagery of 11 ships and the words “Never Forget Us. Remember.”
Finally, “Straddling Oceans” has other vibrant works on display. Don’t miss “The First Birth” and “South Side Angels,” which deals with violence in Syracuse.
The overall exhibit certainly isn’t Johnson’s first show at a local venue. She has an extensive track record including a 2017 solo show at the ArtRage Gallery and a 2022 exhibition staged at both the Schweinfurth Art Center and the Cayuga Museum of History and Art in Auburn. The current exhibition at CFAC is visually engaging, sweeping in its scope, generous in its respect for ancestors and friends.
“Straddling Oceans” is on display through May 6 at the Community Folk Art Center, 805 E. Genesee St. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free.
Vanessa Johnson will deliver an artist’s talk on Friday, April 28, starting at 7 p.m. A reception will follow her talk.
For more information, call 315-442-2230 or access cfac@syr.edu.
Carl Mellor wrote about visual arts for the Syracuse New Times from 1994 through 2019. He continues to cover arts and exhibitions in the Syracuse area.
