A personal journey on Black Heritage through the eyes of an artist at the LA Art Show
The art of Leroi C Johnson
Leroi C. Johnson was recently on exhibit at the LA Art Show to show what he calls his afro-centric, "electric primitive" work
Art at LA's largest exhibition, the LA Art Show, featured accomplished artist LeRoi C. Johnson.
The Buffalo, New York, native describes his art as Afrocentric and coined the phrase "electric primitive." He says "electric" because of the color, "primitive" because "I've never really trained in art."
He was, however, mentored by a global art and civil rights icon, Brazil's Abdias Nascimento. In 1955, Nascimento started a Black museum in Brazil. Johnson notes it "brought together many of the Black artists."
Art was just one major chapter in the life of Nascimento. He'd also made historic moves in theater, politics, and on justice matters, earning two nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Johnson says, "For many people, Abdias would be considered on the level of Martin Luther King Jr. or Mandela."
Nascimento died in 2011 at the age of 97, leaving a legacy and memory as a historical Pan-African activist.
It was the art, however, that connected Johnson with a late-in-life Nascimento. Johnson says people had often compared their works and similarities in the use of color and icons. He explained to me that "your ancestry is coming out."
On a personal note, I went to the art show to meet Johnson on a family matter. I'd seen the artwork of Nascimento in Brazil in January. His wife, an American, Elisa Larkin Nascimento, is the keeper of his archives. It was her introduction to Johnson and suggestion I meet him at the LA Art Show. I rushed over with hopes of learning more about my own Black heritage. It was just last year that I met my biological father in Brazil. His cousin, the late legendary actress Lea Garcia, had been the first wife of Nascimento and was mother of his first two sons.
Elisa had showed me a large colorful painting in her home that had been inspired by Lea and made by Abdias. It was on its way to the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
The annual LA Art Show was at the Los Angeles Convention Center in mid-February of 2025.