M. Scott Johnson – Bio
Biography
As an artist Johnson had his first encounter with the practice of stone sculpture while volunteering in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Scott began experimenting with the medium by appropriating broken and discarded sculptures left by artists who worked in the alleyways of the city. As his skill developed, Johnson’s greatest opportunity came in 1996 when he auditioned and was selected to apprentice with sculptor and national hero, Nicholas Mukomberanwa (1940-2002). Mukomberawa helped Scott to develop numerous sensory channels to his form, imploring him to create using the vigor of Black American experiential imagination. In 2001, in an effort to incorporate his creative vision within other mediums Johnson began a journey with photography influenced by the images of Roy DeCarava and Constantine Brancusi.
Scott’s unusual narrative and fascinating contributions the African American aesthetic, has to led to lecture and exhibition opportunities at a number of institutions including: the noted think tank TransAfrica Forum, Hampton University Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, The Maryland Institute of Contemporary Art, The Charles Wright Museum of African American History, The New York Botanical Gardens and the New York Museum of African Art. Johnson’s work has been exhibited in galleries across the United States and internationally, including the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Adams House at Harvard University, Columbia University, and The American embassy of Ghana. His sculptures are held in both public and private collections, most notably Wilber Jennings Gallery/Kenkelaba House, Shirley and Ezekiel Reece of the Reece Galleries, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Hampton University Museum where his sculpture, The Judgment of Peter Norton is included in the permanent exhibit.
In 2005, Scott was awarded The Vicktor Lowenfeld sculpture prize presented by The Hampton University Museum for his sculpture “the Tao of Physics”. Since 2004, he has held a visual arts teaching residency with The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. As an educator, Johnson’s residency exhibitions have been viewed by thousands at Lincoln Center’s Cork Gallery, The Town Hall, The Schomburg Center, The Dwyer Center, The Williamsburg Historical Society and MoCADA. In 2009, the Schomburg Center assisted Johnson in publishing the anthology “Harlem Be Thy Name” by the Schomburg Junior Scholars Program. Also in 2009, at the bequest of Harvard University, MICA and Johns Hopkins University, Johnson was invited to a panel discussion at the historic conference “Transformations – New Directions in Black Art” and spoke on the relationship of the artist to the institution. In 2009, images from Johnson’s numerous teaching residencies were presented and archived by the library of congress in a lecture given by the Larson Fellow in Health and Spirituality, Dr. Fayth M. Parks, entitled: “Legacy of Healing: Resilience and Positive Thought in African American Folk Beliefs, Spirituality, and Emotional Healing.”
When shaping the stone I rely on the extremely physical process of direct carving, coupled with experimentation in natural and artificial lighting. In my most recent sculptures organic pigments are integrated to exploit symmetry and to empower their aesthetic integrity. I achieve the most visceral and focused statements through improvisation.
When working in the expression of landscape Astrophotography, I am constantly searching for ways in which to navigate/interpret light, space and soul. Humbled by the vastness of the cosmos, when I compose an image I seek to explore the limits and promise of my own physical mortality.
Each of my paintings starts with a loose sketch, landscape or object and is built up with layer upon layer of paint. Often it will be in a state of chaos before the process of adding and subtracting begins. I do not start with an end in mind when I begin a painting, instead the challenge is to find the end. This process to me is a type of meditation – an intimate conversation between the materials and myself.
M. Scott Johnson (b. 1968, Inkster, Michigan) is a New York City‐based artist and educator, has carved out a legacy as one of the most stimulating and unique artists of his generation. M. Scott has explored, both in his practice and through his 20‐year visual arts teaching residency at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York, a rich vision of contemporary Afro‐aesthetics.
