Claudette Johnson
2019
Pastel and gouache on paper
152.4 x 121.9 cm
The self-assured pose of the delicately rendered sitter commands our attention. With her arms folded across her chest, she meets our gaze and surveys us with detached regard. The yellow blocks behind throw the figure into relief and give luminosity to the work. This background also recalls types of abstract art associated with 20thcentury European avant-garde painting. Claudette Johnson subtly signals a relationship with the legacy of modern art and gives her Black sitter a powerful presence in relation to that history.