FOUR: Lester Johnson's Selected Works

September 12 - December 8, 2024

About the Exhibition

Lester Johnson is possibly best known for his powerful, grand scale, brightly colored totems that illustrate a cross-cultural exchange of energy and vision. His sculptural, mixed media works are geometrically precise, made with abstract, richly detailed collage elements that knit together past and present cultures. African staffs and totems speak to tribal status and majesty. Generational fabric and hand-me-down clothing articles are gifted treasures for the artist to enhance the work. Australian Aboriginal culture and the Japanese Kimono tradition are united with African patterns, which have continued to inspire the direction of the work for several years.

Discovery is a joyful component of art making for Johnson. The unexpected surprise enhanced by a newfound opportunity to continue the visual dialog is intriguing and challenging for him. Investigative research and primal cultural traditions have expanded Johnson’s artistic journey. A collage of shared memories, a celebration, and a discovery of a new and extended family who have shared their wisdom and experience with the artist.

In his artistic practice, Johnson identifies with the words of his good friend Charles McGee, “I’m not going to allow anyone to limit my response to the world.”

Lester Johnson was born in Detroit in 1937. His parents had migrated from St. Louis in the 1930’s in hopes of finding better living and working opportunities in the industrial city. Johnson entered Wingert Elementary School in 1942. As a child, he developed an appreciation for the hand-clapping Gospel music at the Hartford Memorial Baptist Church. He also enjoyed going with his dad to the Paradise Theater/ Orchestra Hall to hear the toe-tapping sounds of Cabell ‘Cab’ Calloway, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, and the superb Count Basie Orchestra.

Today we talk about oral history and how to preserve family tradition through storytelling. My dad was a charismatic raconteur of old stories. Often his humor would be educational. He would, from time to time, remind me of the early childhood pencil or crayon drawings I had given to him to carry in his lunch pail to the Cadillac automobile factory. I recall his confident words to me, ‘Many are called but few are chosen. Just do your work with courage, determination and faith, and I will always be with you.’

— Lester Johnson

From 1947 to 1949 Johnson took art classes at the Detroit Institute of Arts from teachers Ms. Simon and Ms. Alice Johnson. Jules Trattner was his art teacher and mentor during his years at Northwestern High School before graduating with an art education major from Wayne State University. For five years Johnson attended Cass Technical Adult Education Center where he worked independently and attended non-degree evening classes.

I began my work as an artist on the small second floor apartment where our family lived on Tireman Avenue. The Westside studio was on a very busy thoroughfare for both automobiles and pedestrians alike. The small room had two windows providing adequate north-west daylight and very audible “street noise,” but only limited space for working.

Once, while reminiscing about my limited workspace, Robert Doty, former curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, shared the story of Alma Thomas and her method. Alma Thomas, the lyrical abstractionist whose tenacity I greatly admire, worked on her kitchen table in her small Washington, D.C. apartment. She never viewed the limited workspace as an obstacle.

As I look back on those early days when I was a ‘fledgling artist,’ working on a dining room table, I realize my workspace was not an obstacle, but an inspiration. For there, in the wee hours of summer morning, I created a watercolor painting called “Impending Darkness.” This piece garnered two top awards at the 1964 Michigan Art Show at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the John S. Newberry Purchase Prize, and the Mrs. Albert Kahn Prize. Joy Hakanson Colby, Art Critic for the Detroit News, called “Impending Darkness” a “dynamic watercolor.” I was encouraged by the results of the exhibit and vowed never to allow space to limit my resolve. The Alma Thomas lesson remains with me today.

The 1964 Michigan Art Show at the Detroit Institute of Arts represented a critical turning point in my personal life and artistic career. I can reflect now on that pivotal moment and three words come to mind: courage, determination and faith.

— Lester Johnson

In 1969, celebrated Detroit artist Charles McGee, and good friend of Johnson, invited him to take part in the Seven Black Artists exhibition at the Detroit Artists Market. Those participating viewed this exhibition as their contribution to the city’s renaissance as it worked to heal from the Detroit riot of 1967. These seven talented artists developed a strong collaborative spirit that led to several additional projects. Shortly after, Gallery 7 was founded by McGee as an artist venue committed to abstract and minimalist art experimentation exhibiting and operated by Black artists.

Johnson received both his BFA and MFA from the University of Michigan. He served as a Professor of Fine Arts for 35 years at the College for Creative Studies and has taught at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center. He was also a member of the Board of the Detroit Artists Market. Johnson has exhibited his work at numerous galleries and museums across the country including the Detroit Institute of Arts, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. His work is also extensively represented in both private and public collections including the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Detroit Institute of Arts, the Federal Reserve Bank Chicago-Detroit, the Flint Institute of Arts, the Museum Afro-Brasileiro, Tougaloo College, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and Wayne State University.

The path that I follow is clearly marked by signs of courage and determination that guide my every step. The artwork is the affirmation of collaborative work. I will continue to seek new experiences possessed by other artists willing to share and exchange our skills and talents. Gratitude is my expression for everyone who has taken the time to contribute to my journey. Every good intention, favorable or otherwise, is noted and appreciated.

— Lester Johnson

Blue Bird Inn & Inspiration from Musicians

The Westside Detroit neighborhood where Lester Johnson grew up forevermore influenced his life and art. It was the largest Black enclave outside of Paradise Valley and was home to about one-third of Detroit’s Black population by the 1940s. A notable feature of the area is the historic Blue Bird Inn that opened in Johnson’s birth year of 1937. The Blue Bird is an invaluable national historic site for its contributions to modern jazz through the development of the bebop musical art form and its direct association with jazz musicians of national renown.

For many decades, the inn was a thriving mecca for Detroit jazz until it closed in the early 2000s. The historic building was later purchased by the Detroit Sound Conservancy in 2019. The organization received a sizeable grant from the Mellon Foundation in 2024 with plans to restore, rehabilitate, and preserve the musical legacy and cultural significance of the venue and surrounding neighborhood.

Johnson views the Blue Bird Inn as “a metaphor for an evolving community through many decades,” and he states that “there’s a new dawn ahead with people working to preserve and save memories and historic landmarks like the inn, while building new neighborhoods to meet the developing needs of modern communities.” The Blue Bird Inn reflects the important role of cultural institutions amidst rapidly changing social and economic norms throughout the city.

Historically, the inn not only functioned as a jazz club, it was a prominent local gathering place that fulfilled a variety of purposes for the self-sufficient Westside. The Blue Bird once acted as a networking hub that sustained connections with other Black communities and Black-owned businesses. The inn also operated as a location where people could freely cash checks providing an alternative to banks known for deliberately prejudiced, predatory and discriminatory practices. If a person ventured just one or two blocks away, Johnson has stated that “you would really know you were out of your neighborhood.”

The artist feels fortunate to have lived on Tireman Avenue only a few blocks from the Blue Bird. He maintains a profound love and appreciation for his childhood neighborhood where he states “we had everything we needed right there” including churches, restaurants, entertainment, and over three hundred family-owned Black businesses by the 1950s.

Johnson has been an avid music lover his entire life and has enjoyed being fully immersed in the storied Detroit music scene. He has always listened to music while creating his art. Throughout its existence, the Blue Bird featured live performances by an impressive variety of regional musicians including Dorothy Ashby, Donald Byrd, Tommy Flanagan, Barry Harris, Elvin Jones, and Yusef Lateef, and the venue became a regular stop for famed traveling artists like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Charlie Parker. The inn thrived for decades as the “hottest jazz joint in the nation west of New York City.”

Although he was heavily impacted by the live music at the Blue Bird, Johnson also enjoyed the more laid-back atmosphere of other upscale places in the area including the Minor Key and Baker’s Keyboard Lounge coffee houses. He remembers the nightclub owners who sold alcohol as being notorious for pressuring guests to purchase a continuous flow of drinks in an effort to increase the total amount of profits for the evening.

Johnson has been a life-long admirer of renowned jazz musician Miles Davis. Between 1953 and ‘54, Davis lived in Detroit for five months and frequently performed at the Blue Bird. In 1969, Johnson created a series of paintings honoring Davis and titled Ten for Miles. Davis toured with the Newport Jazz Festival and played at Detroit’s Olympia Stadium that same year. The morning of the show Johnson decided to take a lucky guess and phone the Pontchartrain Hotel on the small chance that it was where the musician was staying. Surprisingly, the call was connected, and Davis invited the artist to meet him in his dressing room that evening. Johnson shared photographs of his Ten for Miles series with Davis, and they had a memorable conversation about music, boxing, mutual interests, and life as a professional artist.

Johnson also witnessed several talented young artists making their debut through Motown which originated just two miles away from the Blue Bird Inn where Tireman Avenue turns into West Grand Boulevard. The magic of Motown further fueled Johnson’s artistic passion. He commented that it was uplifting for him to see aspiring local artists “just like us” thriving and becoming international successes. The artist attended countless performances by these gifted musicians all throughout Detroit.

Many of Johnson’s works honor the talent and perseverance of musicians and the challenges of life as a creative professional, while celebrating their artform. The artist has stated, I have, over the years, created certain collections of work to pay homage to selected individuals for their innovative spirit, freedom of inquiry and intellect. Their influence is reassuring.

Art Lenders to the Exhibition

Exhibition Events

Opening Reception
Thursday, September 12, 2024, 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Artist talk at 6:00 p.m.
Reception is free to the public, free parking in UM-Dearborn lot.
Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres provided.