One Day Cannibals Raided the Cookie Jar
Artist
Howard Johnson
(American, born 1950)
Date2004
Mediummixed media (lacquer, ink, graphite) on paper (vellum architectural plans, post-its, used blue prints, mathematical text, graph paper, take-out menus)
Dimensions76.2 x 96.5 cm (30 x 38 in.)(sheet)
ClassificationsDrawings
Credit LineEliza S. Paine Fund
Object number2005.103
Label TextSimultaneously esoteric and visionary, Howard Johnson’s complex visual vocabulary weaves together diverse influences, from the quest for the Holy Grail, pagan goddess worship, the Cabala, and UFOs. Johnson’s hybrid image was drawn on a collage of resurrected materials, which include pages from coloring books, mathematical texts, take-out menus, and yellow “Post-it” notes, all mounted on the reverse side of discarded or scavenged architectural plans. Incorporating the title into its composition, the drawing is from the Worcester native’s Hexsexus series, which he defines as: “Hexsexus, a created word, is the magical, transformation (shape shifting) of an object, event, or substance first by hexing: destroying or devaluating its original form or pretense and reuniting its elements forming a new conception and image.”ProvenanceHoward Yezerski Gallery, BostonOn View
Not on view
1947
