Johnny Coleman in “New Histories, New Futures”
New Histories, New Futures at the Transformer Station. Photo by Fred Bidwell.
Now open at the Transformer Station, New Histories, New Futures highlights three contemporary artists and their engagement with “time and historical revisionism.” By unearthing the history of one family’s journey out of slavery, artist Johnny Coleman (2020 Pilot AIR) pays homage to the eight brave women who, in 1853, led their family, and one adopted four-year-old child, to freedom. Deep archival research into the story of this child, Lee Howard Dobbins, and his untimely death amongst strangers in Oberlin, OH, is the source of inspiration for Johnny’s series of large-scale installations. His immersive installation as part of New Histories, New Futures is a continuation of that research, in the form of a new iteration in sculpture, sound, and projection, including pieces created in residence at Tusen Takk.
New Histories, New Futures
Transformer Station
Cleveland, OH
June 26-September 12, 2021
Johnny Coleman is an interdisciplinary artist and educator. His sculptural work and sound installations are composed as intentional gestures in homage and prayer. He holds the Young Hunter Professorship of Art and Africana Studies at Oberlin College. He has created sound installations for Arts institutions throughout the U.S. Over the last twenty-five years, he has worked collaboratively with a range of poets, musicians, dancers, and visual artists across the United States. Additionally, he has performed on stage at BAM, Majestic Theater: Next Wave Festival ‘96, and his work is included in the permanent collections of the following: Fort Wayne Museum of Art, San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, The California Center for the Arts, N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, and extensive private collections. Research interests include site-specificity of African American cultural experience, the African roots of the banjo, furniture design, and the maroon communities of the Great Dismal Swamp.
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