Angela Davis Johnson

Angela Davis Johnson creates paintings, public art installations, and ritual performances to examine the technologies of black people, in particular black women/femme. Davis Johnson incorporates body movement and sound alongside her vibrant narrative paintings which consist of portraits created with paint, scrap paper, found objects, and fabric.

Co-creator of the Hollerin Space, an ongoing experimental healing installation, Davis Johnson has performed and shown work nationally. She has exhibited works at Mississippi Museum of Art, Elevate ATL, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Auburn Avenue Research Library. Davis Johnson was selected as an Alternate Roots Visual Arts Scholar in 2015 for her art and advocacy. She has been nominated for Joan Mitchell Foundation Emerging Artist Fellowship and Painters/Sculpture grant.

Davis Johnson, mother of two, is based in Atlanta, GA.

Artist Statement

I believe human bodies are geographies and landscapes of past lives, histories, and truths. "Seen So Much": works by Angela Davis Johnson is a collection of work that explores care, ancestry, and survival through portraits and pictorial gestures. I come from generations of healers, makers, fighters, migrants, domestic workers, seed planters, and creators who existed and labored mostly the United States South. I have been collecting their narratives since I was a child and continue add to their tales through conversations with other kindred spirits such as black women creatives. It is through their stories that I learn to care for myself and make soul connections with creation. Anchored in their ancient spiritual practices, their wisdom and warnings are reflected throughout each of piece.

Artist CV