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ann 'sole sister' johnson
Born in London, England and raised in Cheyenne, WY, Ann is a graduate of Prairie View A&M University in Texas, (where she now teaches) and received a BS in Home Economics. She has also received an MA in Humanities from the University of Houston-Clear Lake, as well as an MFA from The Academy of Art University, in San Francisco with a concentration in printmaking. In 2010 she received the Teaching Excellence Award at Prairie View A&M University. She was awarded Art teacher of the year in the School of Architecture in 2010, 2017 and 2022. In 2011 she received the distinguished Presidents Faculty of the Year award. Primarily an interdisciplinary artist, Johnson’s passion for exploring issues particularly in the Black community has led her to create series’ of works that are evocative and engaging such as The Hoop Dreamin Collection. A series of decorative basketball goals that explore the social issue of a Hoop Dream. The series, It Is the Not Knowing That Burns My Soul, is an investigation of exploratory mixed media works that examine the “Black Indian”. The latter was included in an exhibition and catalog for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian titled: Indivisible. Her series Converse: Real Talk has been exhibited at Women and Their Work in Austin, TX, Deborah Colton Gallery in Houston, TX and The Community Art Center in Syracuse, NY, and was a part of the inaugural SculptTexas exhibition series. Johnson has been an invited resident at: Tougaloo Art Colony in Jackson, MS in 2009, 2011 and 2015, Project Row Houses in Houston, TX, 2008, 2012, 2022, The Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, CA 2022, and The Plains Fine Art Museum in Fargo, ND, 2022. She was a Prize winner in Houston’s “The Big Show” in 2004, and was the Mixed Media winner in the Carroll Harris Simms National Black Art Competition in 2007. Johnson was also included in the Texas Biennial in 2013, and 2021. She has received grants and fellowships from Texas Vignette, Dallas, TX, The Priscilla Art, Dallas, TX, and a Mellon Grant from Prairie View A&M University. Most recently Johnson has focused on experimental printmaking, and in 2015 she was acknowledged as an “Artist to Watch” in the International Review of African American Art, and is a member of the Bearden 100 (honoring artist Romare Bearden). She is a member of the ROUX Collective and is co-founder of the organization PrintMatters and PrintHouston. She has exhibited at The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, TX, The Contemporary Art Museum Houston, The Museum of Printing History, Houston, TX, Ruby City, San Antonio, TX, Project Row Houses, Houston, TX, Tisdale Beach Institute, Savannah, GA, Charles H. Wright Museum, Flint, MI, The High Point Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis, MN, The 2016 Democratic Convention in Philadelphia, PA, Claire Oliver Gallery in Harlem, NY, and The California African American Art Museum in Los Angeles, CA. Johnson has written articles for Uppercase and School Arts magazine (Davis). She has written and designed a number of books including: I’ll Fly Away (Solefolio Press @magcloud.com), Bās (Solefolio Press @magcloud.com), Paper & Ink (blurb.com), ROUX (blurb.com), Craft$ For The No Budget Art Teacher (Solefolio Press @createpace.com), Unapologetic and STIR (Solefolio [email protected]). Johnson earned the name Sole Sister because she paints portraits with her feet. Yes her feet. Ann 'Sole Sister' Johnson aspires to leave a legacy of challenging and thought provoking work that will entice the viewer and inspire younger artists. Johnson is represented by Hooks Epstein Gallery in Houston, TX, and Spillman Blackwell Fine Art in New Orleans, LA.
REVIEWS & WORK CITED
CONVERSE REAL TALK VIDEO
2020-2021
ARTICLES /// FEATURES /// WRITTEN
Cordella Book (Featured)
- Hand Papermaking Magazine (Featured)
- Mid Atlantic Printmakers Association Journal (Featured)
- Art & Culture, TX Magazine
- Slowed & Throwed (CAMH Catalog)
- Uppercase Magazine Edition 52 (Authored)
TALKS /// PANELS
Weekly Podcast /// 15m With Sole
- PrintAustin /// Art as Activism
- Museum of Southeast Texas /// ROUX
- MPAC–Mid Atlantic Printmakers Association Conference /// Black Women of Print
- Howard University /// Art as Activism
- Knowhere Gallery /// Black Women of Print
- Texas Southern University /// Connections to the Tre
- Art Collections of HBCU’s /// DAP and Sirius XM
- Uppercase Magazine /// Sister we gotta tell our stories (article)
- Houston Arts Alliance /// Sunnyside Gateway Public Art Project
2019
https://texaslifestylemag.com/entertainment/five-minutes-with-ann-johnson-artist-activist-behind-she-matters/
2018
http://artsandculturetx.com/tx-studio-ann-johnson/
2017
DOUBLE CONSIOUSNESS: Ann Johnson at Hooks Epstein Galleries
http://artsandculturetx.com/?s=ann+johnson
2016
CONVERSE: REAL TALK women and their work gallery, austin, tx
http://glasstire.com/2016/06/09/top-five-june-9-2016-with-tommy-gregory/
REDEFINING PRINT community artists’ collective, houston, tx
notthatbutthis.com
Art & Culture Texas
Language and Memory: Redefining Print at Community Artists’ Collective
COAL university museum at texas southern university, houston, tx
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/entertainment/arts-theater/article/Perspective-hangs-by-a-thread-or-two-in-these-6472027.php
2015
RESPOND smack mellon gallery, brooklyn, ny
New York Times
Raging at Racism, From Streets to Galleries
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/arts/smack-mellon-and-grey-art-display-art-sparked-by-politics.html?_r=0#
HOOP DREAMIN hooks epstein gallery, houston, tx
notthatbutthis.com
International Review of African American Art Issue 25.3
NDR
A Conversation with Ann ‘Sole Sister’ Johnson
2014
SUGA blue orange contemporary, houston, tx
& Culture Texas
http://artsandculturetx.com/suga/
PRESERVATION longview museum of fine art, longview, tx
Longview News Journal
Area artist explores roots with mixed media, 2014
2013
BÄs art league houston, houston, tx
Houston Press
http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/art-leagues-bas-enjoyable-with-some-cohesion-issues-6383402
PrintHouston
2012
STIR gallery m squared, houston, tx
glasstire.com
http://gallerymsquared.com/media/glasstire/
http://glasstire.com/2012/06/30/stir-at-gallery-m-squared/
2011
ROUX houston museum of african american culture, university of Arkansas little rock
Arkansas Times
http://www.arktimes.com/RockCandy/archives/2011/08/15/today-at-ualr-roux
Houston Press
http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/printmatters-houston-spices-things-up-with-the-roux-6391304
Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/life/article/A-museum-forges-ahead-ideas-ablaze-3430595.php
Plethora of print exhibits hits town” (They called her Indian Emma)
History, contemporary culture meet at new African-American Museum (They say his number hit when he died)