Walking wounded …
The young man in Claudette Johnson’s huge 2015 pastel drawing looks us in the eye and lifts his shirt – a telling burst of blood red amid otherwise muted hues. Scars mark his belly.
Survivor …
Johnson rarely uses titles that give much away but here the backstory is made clear: Seven Bullets. Her monumental image was created from a tiny one in an article about the death rate of young black men in Los Angeles.
Making space …
This clipping becomes a man who occupies so much space the boundaries of the paper literally do not hold him, and we are left to guess at his life outside the picture plane.
Independent women …
In some ways, it’s an unusual work for the Manchester-born artist, as she is best known for paintings of black women, frequently done from life. She often collaborates with friends who create poses that feel right for them. Far from art history’s passive sexualised subjects, her women challenge ideas about who is represented and how.
Claudette Johnson: I Came to Dance, Modern Art Oxford, to 8 September
