Akeem Johnson

Akeem Johnson is a visual artist born in Westmoreland, Jamaica in 1998. He is based in Kingston and has received a BFA in Visual Communication from the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts in 2022. Johnson has been featured in local exhibitions such as: Rise & Respond- Edna Manley College Final Year Exhibition, 2022 and (In)dependence- An A.R.T.I.S Exhibition, 2022.

Johnson’s work investigates Caribbean folk culture and masquerade characters through a lens inspired by contemporary art and popular culture.

Akeem’s current work involves an ongoing series of character toy figurines. The sculptures focus on the historic use of parody as colonial resistance in the Caribbean, present in folk festivals like Jonkunno, through the use of masks and costuming. The figures exist as reinterpretations or amalgamations of existing Jonkonnu characters to elaborate on inversion, cultural contact and gender ambiguity existing in the costumes. Through this, the art also serves as a way that the characters can converse to interrogate these themes and ideologies.

The artist references the costumes of Caribbean masquerades which are a distinct demonstration of the merging of African and European cultures. Where early costumes feature the craftsmanship and techniques from the descendants of Africans in the Caribbean, which merged with the materials and styles of the European elite that dictated fashion and textiles.

Submitted by Suzie Wong Presents