Shifting Gears

Claudette Johnson is a leading figurative artist based in London. Her large-scale works challenge the erasure and misrepresentations of Black subjects, particularly Black women. In the 1980s, she co-founded the BLK Art Group, a collective of young Black artists who explored race, gender, and the politics of representation. In 1982, the BLK Art Group organized the First National Black Art Convention at Wolverhampton Polytechnic. Johnson's lecture on the portrayal of Black female figures in Western art, the only presentation by a female artist, was a pivotal moment that propelled the Black feminist art movement in the UK.

Music and dance have always been integral to Johnson's practice as inspiration and subject matter. She discusses the impact of jazz and Miles Davis’ "Kind Of Blue" on her art. Johnson fondly recalls how the dance parties she attended growing up were a source of joy and affirmed her Afro-Carribean identity. She also explains the recurring use of blue in her works.

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Host: Siima Itabaaza

Guest: Claudette Johnson

Story editing and advising: Allison Behringer of Rough Cut Collective

Email: [email protected]

IG: @kutimbawithsiima