Ronald Jackson: Solo Exhibition
June 25th – August 31, 2022

Opening Reception
Saturday, June 25, 2-6 pm

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Galerie Myrtis is pleased to announce Ronald Jackson’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. In this show, Jackson, a figurative painter, draws from his vivid and boundless imagination to construct a fantastical world habited by Johnnie Mae King, aka Aunt Johnnie. Known for creating work focused on the Great Migration, the artist leads us down a different path in his new body of work. Here, the narrative focuses on a single character and the notion of a Black woman’s uninhibited existence. For Johnnie, it is a life free of social constraints such as racial discrimination and gender politics.

Jackson depicts Aunt Johnnie in playful figurations and portrayals of acts of defiance. Lush vegetation binds Johnnie’s various exploits offering dramatic surroundings to her stylized couture. Her identity is concealed by the artist’s traditional masking technique or hidden behind whimsical eyeglasses that serve as devices to draw viewers into Aunt Johnnie’s imaginary world, one of fantasy, freedom, and reckless abandonment.

“Johnnie’s imagination allows her to dream uninhibited, free to do what she wants to do and be whatever she wants to be. Much like a time traveler, her mind allows her to explore the possibilities of navigating other places, times, and dimensions.” Ronald Jackson

Ronald Jackson
Untitled, 2022
Oil on canvas
60 x 72 ″