#InHonor

Kendall and I were interested to see the work of Ervin Johnson at Blue Sky Gallery today. Here's what he had to say about his work: “I began #InHonor as a personal response to the killings of Black people across America. To be completely honest the work was born out of guilt. All of my friends had rallied up in arms to march for Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner. I, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found…What real change would come of my presence as a young gay black man at a march in which half of my people don’t accept or acknowledge me? Still, though, I felt moved to do something.”
 
#InHonor is an ongoing series of photo-based mixed media portraits that honor Blackness in its many forms, while also acknowledging the violence and destruction taking place in America in the form of police brutality. After printing each portrait he has composed, Johnson uses various solvents to remove pigments from the print’s surface. He then reintroduces color to the image using acrylic paints and inks to further abstract the subject’s skin tone and facial features, challenging viewers to rethink preconceived notions of what skin color signifies within our society. Each larger-than-life portrait is an homage to each individual pictured.