Chris Johnson (artist)
Chris Johnson | |
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Born | Christopher D. Johnson November 22, 1948 Brooklyn, New York |
Known for | Photography and video |
Notable work | Question Bridge: Black Males |
Awards | International Center of Photography, Infinity Award: New Media 2015 Question Bridge: Black Males [1] |
Website | www |
Chris Johnson (born 1948)[2] is an American fine art photographer, educator, author, curator, video and installation artist working primarily with themes related to personal history, chance operations and social justice. He is a professor of photography at the California College of the Arts. His photographic work has been shown in a solo exhibition at Monterey Museum of Art.[3] Johnson's video work in collaboration with the Question Bridge team has been exhibited at Oakland Museum of California, Brooklyn Museum and Portland Art Museum.[4][5][6][7]
Career
[edit]Johnson is a professor of photography at the California College of the Arts[8] where for 11 years he served as chair of the Photography Program. He has been president of the Board of SF Camerawork,[9] director of the Mother Jones International Fund for Documentary Photography, and chair of the City of Oakland's Cultural Affairs Commission. Johnson is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Oakland Museum of California[10] and is President of the Board of The Alliance for Media Arts and Culture.[11]
Johnson is the author of The Practical Zone System: for Film and Digital Photography (1999); currently in its sixth edition.[12] His public art works and projects are included in Art as Social Practice: Technologies for Change (Routledge, 2022).
The Question Bridge project
[edit]The original Question Bridge project emerged when, in 1996, Johnson was commissioned by the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego to produce a video piece as part of a multi-media exhibition entitled Re:Public curated by Richard Bolton.[13] The result was a rough experimental project intended to show how video-mediated questions and answers might provide fresh insights into familiar concepts like "race" and "class" when this approach is applied to people who nominally belong to the same racial demographic.[14]
Question Bridge: Black Males
[edit]In collaboration with artists Hank Willis Thomas, Kamal Sinclair and Bayeté Ross Smith, Question Bridge: Black Males is a five-channel video installation platform for black men of all ages and backgrounds to ask and candidly respond to questions that are rarely discussed in public. Through video-mediated question-and-answer exchange, diverse members of this "demographic" bridge economic, political, geographic, and generational divisions. The Question Bridge campaign seeks to represent and redefine Black male identity in America.[15][4][16]
A book of essays titled Question Bridge: Black Males in America was published by Aperture in 2015.[17] The exhibit, which was named by Artnet as among 100 artworks that defined the decade, toured to more than thirty organizations.[18]
Exhibitions
[edit]Solo photography exhibitions
[edit]- In My Life: Portraits by Chris Johnson, Monterey Museum of Art, 2022[19]
Solo photography exhibitions
[edit]- Reflections in Black: Art and Activism, African American Photographs from the Smithsonian Institution, curated by Deborah Willis, The Luckman Gallery, California State University, Los Angeles, 2002 and toured[20]
Question Bridge exhibitions
[edit]- Question Bridge: Black Males, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York City, 2012;[4] Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 2019/20;[5] Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, California, 2012;[21] Harvey Gantt Center, Charlotte, NC;[22] Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC[23]
Awards
[edit]- 2015: International Center of Photography, Infinity Award: New Media for Question Bridge: Black Males[1]
Collections
[edit]Johnson's work is held in the following permanent collections:
- Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York City: a DVD and hard drive from Question Bridge: Black Males (as of 25 October 2022)[2]
- Center for Creative Photography, at the University of Arizona: unspecified[24]
- Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: 1 print (as of 1 November 2022)[25]
- Oakland Museum of California, Oakland California: Question Bridge: Black Males (as of 1 November 2022)[26]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "2015 Infinity Award: New Media". International Center of Photography. Feb 26, 2015.
- ^ a b "Brooklyn Museum". www.brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
- ^ "In My Life: Portraits by Chris Johnson | Monterey Museum of Art". Monterey Museum of Art |. 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
- ^ a b c "Brooklyn Museum: Question Bridge: Black Males". Brooklyn Museum.
- ^ a b "Question Bridge: Black Males at the Portland Museum. Oregon". Portland Art Museum.
- ^ "The Question Bridge Project: Redefining Black Male Identity". Time.
- ^ Fancher, Lou (2017-09-28). "Question Bridge Returns to OMCA". www.alamedamagazine.com. Retrieved 2022-10-29.
- ^ "Christopher Johnson". Cca.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
- ^ "2021 Online Event: Honoring Chris Johnson, Fund A Need Closing Reception". SF Camerawork. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
- ^ "Board of Trustees | Oakland Museum of California". Oakland Museum of California. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
- ^ "Chris Johnson". The Alliance. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
- ^ "The Practical Zone System for Film and Digital Photography". Digital Photography Review.
- ^ Waloff, Mariel (10 February 2012). "At the Oakland Museum, Question:Bridge facilitates a high-tech conversation among black men". Oakland North.
- ^ Waloff, Mariel (2012-02-10). "At the Oakland Museum, Question:Bridge facilitates a high-tech conversation among black men". Oakland North. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
- ^ Ryce, Walter. "A photographer and professor uses video in the interest of increasing humanity". Monterey County Weekly.
- ^ Thomas, Hank Willis (23 September 2014). ""What Is Common to All of Us?" Redefining Black Male Identity". Creative Time Reports.
- ^ "Question Bridge: Black Males in America and Question Bridge: Black Males". CAA Reviews.
- ^ Davis, Ben (2019-12-31). "The 100 Works of Art That Defined the Decade, Ranked: Part 3". Artnet News. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
- ^ "In My Life: Portraits by Chris Johnson | Monterey Museum of Art". Monterey Museum of Art |. 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2022-10-29.
- ^ ""Reflections in Black"". Cal State LA. 2013-10-22. Retrieved 2022-10-29.
- ^ Waloff, Mariel (2012-02-10). "At the Oakland Museum, Question:Bridge facilitates a high-tech conversation among black men". Oakland North. Retrieved 2022-10-29.
- ^ "Question Bridge: Black Males". The Gantt Center. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
- ^ "Question Bridge: Black Males | Corcoran". www.corcoran.org. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
- ^ "J". Center for Creative Photography. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
- ^ "Results | Search Objects | The MFAH Collections". emuseum.mfah.org. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
- ^ Fancher, Lou (2017-09-28). "Question Bridge Returns to OMCA". www.alamedamagazine.com. Retrieved 2022-10-29.