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Balance of Power
26"x 27"x 10". Ceramic, mixed media
I am an artist and cultural worker from India, who has lived and worked in the Chicago area for over twenty years while maintaining close ties with India. The influences of my mother, a social activist and my father, an artist and a follower of Gandhi have been predominant in my life and art, where I continue to deal with the same issues that have preoccupied me for the last two decades - the growth towards a spiritual existence as an individual and as part of the human continuum.
Much of my inspiration comes from transitory, ritualistic Indian folk art practices which I've used to address issues of labor, domestic violence, nonviolence and health education, adapting them to operate within contemporary experiences thus evolving a hybrid version of the original traditions. As a result, my work has always been informed by my experience of life in both, the US and India.
The process of spiritual growth has been an ongoing preoccupation for me, especially as it relates to working in the community. I have found that in the search for a personal truth one discovers universal truths that bind us to each other to the past and to future generations.
EDUCATION
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1970-72 | Folk Universitet, Lund, Sweden. | |
1965-67 | Masters of Fine Art. School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, IL. | |
1960-64 | Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art. Bombay, India. | |
1960-64 | Bachelor of Arts. University of Bombay. Bombay, India.
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GRANTS/AWARDS
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2001 | Illinois Arts Council Visual Arts Award | |
1997 | Visual Artist, Governor's Award for the Arts | |
1993 | Arts International Travelling Fellowship. | |
1992 | Kohler Company, Arts and Industry Grant, Sheboygan, WI. | |
1991/92 | Illinois Arts Council. Visual Arts Award. | |
1990 | Virginia Groot Foundation | |
1989/90 | Arts Midwest Visual Artists Award | |
1988/89 | Illinois Arts Council Visual Arts Award
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PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Asian American Arts Centre, New York, NY
Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
State of Illinois Building, Chicago, IL.
Peace Museum, Chicago, IL
College of Dupage. Dupage, IL.
Arkansas Arts Center, Decorative Arts Museum. Little Rock, AR.
University of Illinois Law School. Carbondale, IL.
High Museum of Art. Atlanta, GA.
Air India Corporation. Bombay, India.
Kohler Company, Sheboygan, WI.
Garden/Varelli, Bombay India.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
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2007 (Upcoming) | Life Time Offer, Dimensions Variable, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
Sky Meets Water, Chicago River, Chicago, IL | |
2006 | Truth; Patterns and Progressions, Contemporary Art Center, Peoria, IL | |
2004 | Transforming Materials; Uniting the Physical and the Spiritual.
Illinois Weslyan University, Bloomington, IL | |
2003 | Enough; Indira Freitas Johnson and Voices from around the World,
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL. | |
2001 | FREENOTFREE, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, RI | |
2000 | Process of Karma, Indianapolis Art Center Indianapolis IN. | |
1997 | Indira Freitas Johnson, Death and Rebirth, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, | |
1995 | Indira Freitas Johnson, Process of Karma, MC Gallery, Minneapolis, MN | |
1994 | Indira Freitas Johnson, New Work" Clarion University of Pennsylvania, PA. | |
1993 | Vehicles of Transformation; Art Works by Indira Freitas Johnson" Chicago
Cultural Center. Chicago, IL. | |
1992 | "Indira Freitas Johnson: Storm Shelters and Other Works": Evanston Arts Center, Evanston, IL.
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SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
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2006 | Living It Large, Kentucky Museum of Art, Louisville, KY | |
2005 | Fatal Love, The Queens Museum, Queens, New York.
Particles and Passion:the Art of Clay. Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD
Body Perfect, Walsh Gallery, Chicago IL | |
2004 | Honoring Tradition, Perceptions of Three Asian American Artists. Ball State Museum, Muncie, IN
Masala, Diversity and Democracy in South Asian Art. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Conecticut, Storrs. | |
2003 | Women Alive! A legacy of Social Justice, Archeworks, Chicago, IL | |
2002 | Uniting the Community for Peace; temporary installation, Field Museum of Chicago
The Virginia A. Groot Foundation Exhibition, SOFA, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL.
Made From Scratch, The Chicago Athaneum, Chicago, IL | |
2001 | Pedagogy: Beyond Reeling, Writhing, Uglification and Derision. Columbia College Center for Book and Paper Arts, Chicago, IL.
Voices of Shakti;, DePaul University, Chicago, IL | |
2000 | Art of the Spirit, Society for Contemporary Craft, Pittsburg, PA. | |
1999 | Voices of Shakti, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, College of St.Catherine,St. Paul.
Poetic and Narrative Expressions, Lakeview Museum, Peoria, IL
Looking In the Mirror: Aspects of Figurative Ceramics, Riley Hawk Gallery, Columbus,OH
Spiritual Passports/Transformative Journeys, State of Illinois Art Gallery, Chicago, IL. | |
1998 | Politically Direct, Mclean County Arts Center, Bloomington, IL
Text and Territory: Navigating through Immigration and Dislocation, University Galleries, Illinois State University, Normal, IL. | |
1997 | Five Perspectives-Clay, The Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA.
Viewpoint: Art as Message, Craft Alliance Gallery, St. Louis, MO. | |
1996 | Art in Chicago; 1945-1995, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL.
Labor of Love. New Museum of Art, New York, New York.
Voices of Shakti; Pain Struggle, Courage, Collaboration between women from Apna Ghar (Shelter for Abused Women) and Indira Johnson. Artemisia Gallery and Beacon Street Gallery, Chicago, Weslyan University, Bloomington,IL.
Cast of Character, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheyboygan, WI. | |
1995 | Exploring A Movement: Feminist Visions in Clay. LaBand Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA. | |
1994 | "Valuable Offer" Installation at SOFA (Sculpture and Functional Objects) Sponsored by Esther Saks Fine Art Ltd. Chicago, IL.
NCECA Invitational Exhibition-Émigrés: Cultural References in Contemporary Clay" New Orleans Museum of Contemporary Art, New Orleans, LA. | |
1993 | "Material Departures; Tradition and Change" State of Illinois Gallery, Chicago IL.
"Double Vision" Collaborative exhibition with S.H.A.R.E. (Support the Handicappeds' Rehabilitation Effort), Cooraswami Gallery, Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay, India. | |
1992 | Ceramic Sculpture: Form + Figure, Society for Art in Crafts. Pittsburgh, PA.
"Women's' Work: Visual Language in Transition" Esther Saks Gallery, Chicago. | |
1991 | Indira Freitas Johnson, New Sculpture. MC Gallery. Minneapolis, MN.
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RESIDENCIES
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1998-04, | SHARE (Support the Handicapped's Rehabilitation Effort), Golibar, India, | |
2001 | Visiting Teaching Artist, Rhode Island School of Design | |
1997/00 | Visiting Teaching Artist, Anderson Ranch, Snowmass, CO | |
1994 | SEWA Milthila, Bihar, India | |
1992 | Kohler Factory, Kohler, WI. | |
1989 Lakeside Studio, Lakeside, MI.
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SELECTED LECTURES/ PANEL DISCUSSIONS
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2005 | Art and Nonviolence, Christian Brothers University, Memphis TN | |
2004 | Keynote speaker, School of Continuing Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL | |
2003 | Art and Social Justice, Pioneers for Social Justice, Archeworks, Chicago, IL | |
2002 | The Artist in the Community, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI | |
2001 | FREENOTFREE, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, RI | |
1998 | New Dimensions; Five Views, SOFA Exposition, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL. | |
1997 | Affirming Feminist Identity Through Art and Religion, Panel Discussion, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
Face To Face: Portraits of the Self by Women Artists, The Art Institute of Chicago. | |
1996 | Keynote speaker, "Drawing Art Together," Sponsored by Getty Center for Education. | |
1992 | "Daughters of Revolution: Gender, Ethnicity, Art": Cincinnati Art Museum. Cincinnati, OH.
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RELATED EXPERIENCE:
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2005, 2006 | Arts In Education Panel, Illinois Arts Council | |
2002 | Visiting Artist Gallery 37, Chicago, IL. | |
1998/00, 91-93 | Visual Arts Panel, Illinois Arts Council | |
1993- | Founder/ Director Shanti: Foundation for Peace | |
1993-00 | Exhibitions Committee: Evanston Art Center. Evanston, IL. | |
1987- | Founding Member, Marketplace; Handwork of India. | |
1995, 96 | Visiting Teaching Artist; School of the Art Institute of Chicago
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PUBLIC ART & COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS:
Ongoing Projects: Travelling site specific installations that keep evolving at each site.
Enough; Indira Freitas Johnson and Voices from Around the World
This rich and thought provoking installation explores the concept of "enough" by considering the universal questions of what we want and what we need for ourselves, our families, and our communities. Voices from around the world were gathered together and incorporated into various forms of artistic and cultural expression, using such media as ceramics, textile and text. The exhibit provides compelling testimony to the universality of all our hopes and dreams and the potential for us to find mutual respect and understanding.
20001- FREENOTFREE; A Community Celebration that Brings Together the Spiritual and Material Dimensions of Life.
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence Rhode Island.
The FREENOTFREE project questions the nature of "free" labor and investigates the basic transference of energy which is present in every form of exchange whether, physical, emotional, economic or psychic. It celebrates acts that are both mundane and extraordinary, that give comfort and love, that express some of the deepest expressions of human emotion and defy absorption or control by the boundaries of a market society.
2001/02/03 Community Blessings, the Rangoli Project designed to unite the diverse communities together in a spirit of hope and friendship.
Providence RI, Evanston, IL, Milwaukee, WI
Rangoli is a South Asian folk art tradition, where a woman inaugurates the day by painting a pattern on the threshold of her home so as to bring protection and well being for her family. This traditional ritual has its origin in the need to locate the individual within a larger universe and has been adapted to include the larger community. One of the goals of this project is to discover through dialog, art and ritual the commonality of our human experience, and the spiritual potential inherent in all of us.
1995/96/99 Voices of Shakti; Pain, Struggle, Courage
Artemesia Gallery, Chicago IL (1996); Beach St. Gallery, Chicago IL (1996); Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington IL (1997); Harvard University, Cambridge MA (1999); College of St. Catherine, St. Paul MN (1999)
Voices of Shakti; Pain, Struggle, Courage, was the result of a series of individual and collective discussions, observations and interactions that developed over a period of five months between women from Apna Ghar (Our Home) Inc., a Chicago shelter for South Asian women who are victims of domestic violence and artist Indira Freitas Johnson.
Using ritual, myth and cultural artifacts to bring the issue of domestic violence, to the foreground, Voices of Shakti demonstrates the cultural dimension of domestic violence and the courage and strength required to start a new life. Accompanying community discussions are both stimulating and provocative, educating and empowering viewers, especially South Asians, who have not had many opportunities to question the hierarchies that influence their lives.
1994-2000 Process of Karma
MC Gallery, Minneapolis MN (1995); Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis IN (2000)
The Process of Karma installation occupies the space between tradition and the evolution of that tradition with new and varied experiences. It combines the age-old practice, observed by women from India who make ritual drawings on floors and walls of their homes, with the experience of life lived in the US. Process of Karma explores the rituals and processes that connect us to the cyclical rhythm of birth, growth, death and re-birth.
1991/93- 2000. Double Vision
Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay India (1993); College of St. Catherine, St. Paul MN (1995); Brunner Art Museum, Iowa State University, Ames IO (1997); Northwestern University, Evanston IL (2003)
Double Vision: Collaborative project with SHARE (Support the Handicapped's Rehabilitation Effort), Bombay, India. Women from SHARE were sent full-scale pencil drawings dealings with issues that were established through previous discussions: the dowry system, female infanticide, woman's worth, etc. The SHARE women translated these drawings into picture quilts, making their own choices regarding color and pattern. We see here a unique blend of the trained and untrained eye.
Other Selected Projects:
1998/99. Spiritual Passports; Transformative Journeys, State of Illinois Gallery, Chicago. Mentor to middle school students to help them create pieces for an accompanying exhibit.
1997. Crossing Borders: Cultural Traditions in Chicago Neighborhoods,
Chicago Historical Society. Through the use of ordinary found objects participants created Rangoli (traditional floor patterns) and symbols that communicate a universal language.
1996. "MA" Community project, Noyes Cultural Arts Center, Evanston, IL. "MA" draws on age old ritual expressions of South Asia as a means to pay tribute to and remember our mothers, those who gave birth to us and those who through their service and caring have devoted their lives to our well-being and the well-being of future generations.
1993. Our Own Vision, Collaborative Health Education Project with Western Railway, Maharashtra Lokahita Seva Mandal, and SHARE (Support the Handicapped's Rehabilitation Effort), Bombay, India. The project involved working with a group of children who had been touched by leprosy in one form or another. Over a period of six months students participated in after school activities that helped them express their feelings about this disease. These drawings were later painted on a Western Railway commuter train that traveled between down town Bombay and the far suburbs.
1993- present, Founder, Executive Director
Shanti Foundation for Peace; Teaching Nonviolence through the Arts, was established in Chicago in 1993 to foster greater peace between cultures through education, the arts, and grass roots community development. The Foundation accomplishes its mission by promoting educational peace initiatives through the arts that show people how their individual efforts can help forge lasting peace.
1987-Present, Founding Board Member
MarketPlace: Handwork of India is a not for profit organization benefiting under-served women in India. The organization promotes economic development and personal empowerment through the sale of handmade products through a catalog in the U.S. Design blocks for fabrics and conduct yearly design
workshops for artisans and producer group leaders in Mumbai, to help them explore their individual creative potential.
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