John Isiah Walton was born in 1985 in
, where he currently lives and works as a
fine artist
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork. ...
. Walton was the first African American member of the artist collective The Front,
and is also a founding member of Level Artist Collective, which includes artists Ana Hernandez, Horton Humble, Rontherin Ratliff, and
Carl Joe Williams.
Walton often uses humor and irony to provide "stinging social commentary" on the topics of "race, identity, popular culture, and current events". Most of his work depicts life in New Orleans. Most projects consist of large scale paintings with fast, loose brush strokes.
Humidity shows life in New Orleans with the Sewage & Water Board, the abandoned Six Flags, and Cafe Du Monde. ''Rodeo'' featured portraits of bulls and bull fighters from the controversial
Angola State Prison Rodeo.
His previous series Zulu was a series of paintings of American political figures in blackface which is a reference to the
Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club
The Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club (founded 1916) is a fraternal organization in New Orleans, Louisiana which puts on the Zulu parade each year on Mardi Gras Day. Zulu is New Orleans' largest predominantly African American carnival organizati ...
parade krewe.
His work has been exhibited in New York City, Austin, Texas, Los Angeles, North Carolina and
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
. His solo exhibitions include Beaucoup Humidity in 2015 curated by
Diego Cortez
James Allan Curtis (September 30, 1946 – June 21, 2021), known professionally as Diego Cortez, was an American filmmaker and art curator closely associated with the no wave period in New York City. Cortez was the co-founder of the Mudd Club, ...
and God Willing in 2016 both at P339 Gallery in New York, and Humidity at the George Ohr-O'Keefe Museum. Work from his Zulu series was included in the 2019 Atlanta Biennial. He has been included in group shows at the
New Orleans Museum of Art
The New Orleans Museum of Art (or NOMA) is the oldest fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans. It is situated within City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton Avenue and Esplanade Avenue, and near the terminus of the ...
, Grown Ass Kids at the Front, and Level's group exhibition at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art located in New Orleans, La. He has had many commissions and has done a residency at Macedonia Institute in New York and the Joan Mitchell Center
in New Orleans, LA.
References
External links
John Isiah Walton website
Living people
1985 births
African-American artists
American artists
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American people
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