Exhibitions

Renaissance Noir UTA Artist Space

Renaissance: Noir
UTA Artist Space, Beverly Hills, CA
Curated by Myrtis Bedolla

UTA Artist Space is pleased to present Renaissance: Noir, a virtual exhibition featuring works by 12 emerging Black artists, live on UTAArtistSpace.com from June 9 – July 3, 2020. Curated by Myrtis Bedolla, Baltimore-based owner of Galerie Myrtis, Renaissance: Noir investigates Blackness on the continuum of the historiographies of Black artists’ narratives that assert, individually and collectively, their state-of-mind and state-of-being Black. The timeliness of the exhibition is particularly significant, as its launch comes amidst a heightened awareness of racial injustice against the Black community, with protests occurring around the world. The show marks UTA Artist Space’s first full virtual exhibition.

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The artists highlighted in Renaissance: Noir are Tawny Chatmon, Wesley Clark, Alfred Conteh, Larry Cook, Morel Doucet, Monica Ikegwu, Ronald Jackson, M. Scott Johnson, Delita Martin, Arvie Smith, Nelson Stevens, and Felandus Thames. Their work collectively captures the existence of “double consciousness,” as coined by W.E.B. DuBois, where one is constantly combating the “isms” —racism, colorism, sexism, capitalism, colonialism, escapism, and criticism through the act of artistic activism.

Renaissance: Noir Blackness on the Continuum


by Myrtis Bedolla, Curator

Exhibitions

Building Bridges II The Politics of Love – Identity…

Building Bridges II: The Politics of Love, Identity and Race

13th Havana Biennial, Havana, Cuba
April 12 – May 12, 2019

Galeria Carmen Montilla – photo by Chris Bedolla

Location
Galeria Carmen Montilla
Norma Jimenez Iradiz, Directora
Calle de los Oficios No. 162, Old Havana
Opening Reception: April 13, 2019, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Curators Myrtis Bedolla and Ana Joa reunite for the second iteration of Building Bridges II: The Politics of Love, Identity, and Race. In bridging peoples, politics, and cultures, the exhibition investigates the dogma of love, gender politics, and prevailing assumptions about identity and race. We thank Eusebio Leal Spengler, Old Havana Restoration Project for his support.

Los curadores Myrtis Bedolla y Ana Joa se reúnen para la segunda versión de Haciendo Puentes II: La Política del Amor, la Identidad y la Raza. Al unir a los pueblos, la política y las culturas, la exposición investiga el dogma del amor, la política de género y los supuestos prevalentes sobre la identidad y la raza. Agradecemos a Eusebio Leal Spengler, Havana Vieja Restauracion Proyecto por su apoyo.

American Artists: Tawny Chatmon, Wesley Clark, Larry Cook, Alfred Conteh, Anna U. Davis, Morel Doucet, Vance Gragg, Susan Goldman, Michael Gross, Ronald Jackson, M. Scott Johnson, and Delita Martin.

Cuban Artists: Julia Valdés Borrero, Luis Jorge Joa, Daylene Rodriquez Moreno, Caridad Ramos Mosquera, Zaida del Rio, Eduardo Roca Salazar (Choco), Alicia Leal Veloz, and Jorge Jacas Vivanco.


Artwork


Photos


Artist

M. Scott Johnson Photography

M. Scott Johnson

artwork | statement | bio | resume

photography | sculpture

Photography

Artist

M. Scott Johnson Sculpture

M. Scott Johnson

artwork | statement | bio | resume

sculpture | photography

Sculpture

Exhibitions

Shadow Matter The Rhythm of Structure Afro Futurism to…

Shadow Matter: The Rhythm of Structure/ Afro-Futurism to Afro-Surrealism

January 19 – August 30, 2015

 

Curatorial Statementscott_johnson-techno-negro

by Myrtis Bedolla, Founding Director, Galerie Myrtis

Exhibition Location: Charles H. Wright Museum, Detroit, Michigan

Shadow Matter: The Rhythm of Structure/ Afro-Futurism to Afro-Surrealism features sculptures by New York sculptor M. Scott Johnson (Inkster, Michigan, 1968). In parallel with the aesthetic practices of both Afro-Futurism and Afro-Surrealism, Johnson transforms the ancient medium of stone into intricately carved sculptures that fuse African and African-American visual cultures. The work in this exhibition explores his journey in becoming one of the most unique sculptors of his generation.

This mid-career retrospective, traces the trajectory of Johnson’s multifaceted career. His works are rooted in Afro-Diasporan imagination and are inspired by folklore, mythology, revisionist history and his education as a student of Detroit’s techno/house

music universe. As an “artivist,” Scott unabashedly and unapologetically addresses self-perceived notions of classism and race, while harnessing his visual syntax to give voice to the disenfranchised. He has extended performance of sculpture into the social sphere by initiating and developing community-based collaborative public art throughout New York City.

Scott’s education as a sculptor began in 1994, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe as a member of Operation Crossroads Africa. While there he studied traditional and contemporary stone sculpting under the tutelage of the local artists who occupied the endless alleyways of the city. At the time Zimbabwe was producing some of the most important stone sculptors in the contemporary art world. His greatest opportunity as a young artist came when he auditioned and was invited to apprentice (1996-1999) with master sculptor and national hero Nicholas Mukomberanwa (1940-2002) in Ruwa, Zimbabwe.

As an Afro-Futurist/Surrealist, Scott embraces the aesthetic mixture of fantasy, Afrocentricity, and magic realism with non-Western cosmologies to create new cultural landscapes and reshape old ones. Johnson believes his early embrace of Techno music was a point of departure into the scientific and spiritual practices of the African Diaspora. He also states that growing up in the close-knit community of Inkster provided him with an extremely supportive base of natural allies, willing to help expand his intellectual and artistic horizons.

Exhibition Location:
Charles H. Wright Museum
315 East Warren Avenue
Detroit, MI 48201
thewright.org

Artist Talk

Parallel Evolution Artist Talk

Parallel Evolution

 
Artist Talk: Parallel Evolution, a retrospective of New York based sculptor, M. Scott Johnson (b. 1968), which chronicles his artistic vision from 2000 – 2008.

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Exhibition Video

Abstraction: The Syncopation of Light, Color and Form –…

Abstraction: The Syncopation of Light, Color and Form

 
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Artists’ Talk: Artists assert their creative voices through textured canvases rich with vibrant hues, and sculptures which free the inherent beauty of the natural stone. Drawing from their intuitions and imaginations, the artists form rhythmic patterns employing light and color to explore social issues, and the metaphysical and spiritual realm.

Featured Artists: David Carlson, Calvin Coleman, Elsa Gebreyesus, Michael Gross, M. Scott Johnson and Jeffrey Kent.

Artist

M. Scott Johnson-Video

M. Scott Johnson

artwork | video | statement | bio | resume
 

Exhibitions

Abstraction

Echo (detail), 2008 by David Carlson
Echo (detail), 2008 by David Carlson

Abstraction: The Syncopation of Light, Color and Form

May 28 – September 23, 2011

watch artists’ talk
 
Abstraction: The Syncopation of Light, Color and Form artists assert their creative voices through textured canvases rich with vibrant hues, and sculptures which free the inherent beauty of the natural stone. Drawing from their intuitions and imaginations, the artists form rhythmic patterns employing light and color to explore social issues, and the metaphysical and spiritual realm.

Featured Artists: David Carlson, Calvin Coleman, Elsa Gebreyesus, Michael Gross, M. Scott Johnson and Jeffrey Kent.

Artwork

Artist

M. Scott Johnson – Bio

Biography

M. Scott Johnson
New York based sculptor and photographer has literally carved out a legacy as one of the most stimulating and unique artists of his generation. Over the past decade, Johnson has explored, both in his own practice and through his teaching residencies, his vision of the ideal aesthetic, cultural memory and social realism. From childhood, Johnson has been fascinated with the narratives of the African Diaspora. As an undergraduate student, Johnson was recognized and intellectually mentored by noted African-American anthropologist, Dr. Warren Perry. Perry was instrumental in Johnson being selected to participate in the volunteer program Operation Crossroads Africa, a member of its first group entering post-apartheid South Africa and Zimbabwe in 1994.

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.”