First and last Fridays: The Conclusion to 'A Pre-COVID Artwalk in Indianapolis' (To Harrison Center)

NUVO
By Dan Grossman

"Family Tree" ($3,000.00) by Willard Johnson; Oil on sewn canvas; 76 x 65 inches

In between signing the required donation paperwork and getting my temperature checked — twice — I was able to talk to Willard Johnson through my surgical mask about his show “When Strangers Meet”. Willard’s work is heavily influenced by his upbringing. Born in Seoul, South Korea, he spent time in Egypt and went to high school in Beirut, Lebanon. “The Tide” is a mixed media painting, which features layers of cut paper in the form of arabesques. “They would always throw in mistakes to the designs,” Johnson said of Muslim artists who created abstract designs, to show that they were human and not divine. He told me he was influenced by Islamic art and New York School Abstract Expressionism. [More]