 – Closing at the Albany Museum of Art in the Haley Gallery on Saturday, December 10, 2022, “Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice” is an exhibition showed…){kind=link}
ALBANY, GA (PNAN) – Closing at the Albany Museum of Art in the Haley Gallery on Saturday, December 10, 2022, “Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice” is an exhibition showed only twice. First on view was at the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library during National Negro History Week in 1946, and in 1947 in Copenhagen under the title “For Freedom and the U.N.” The collection as a whole has not been seen in the United States for nearly 75 years.
The exhibition highlights Johnson’s many accomplishments as an artist by linking the past to the present. Johnson brilliantly illuminates the stories and notable accomplishments of many individuals, some of them his contemporaries, who have made significant changes in the world.
Artist Johnson infuses history with art throughout these works, using symbols, flags, and a storyboard-like approach to create realistic depictions of this cast of freedom fighters.
Additionally, he also pays tribute to the difficult history that has shaped this nation. These paintings honor Johnson’s heroes, who collectively over the course of some 200 years changed the lives of countless individuals across the globe.
This series is some of the last work Johnson completed whereas his style of artwork transformed from expressionistic landscapes and portraits to focus on African-American life at home.