Courtney Adair Johnson
Working Collective
Nuveen Barwari, Marlos E’van, Courtney Adair Johnson
The Working Collective brings together three Southern perspectives: Kurdish American artist Nuveen Barwari, Mississippi Black queer interdisciplinary artist Marlos E’van and a Southern reuse artist and curator Courtney Adair Johnson.
The Working Collective formed in Nashville, TN while at McGruder Social Practice Artist Residency (M-SPAR), now in different cities; Albany, NYC and Nashville. We actively engage in each other's practice and exchange dialogue on art and family as each person's life and responsibilities have shifted. Together, our practices investigate materiality and consumption, from disposable culture to information, land, and interconnectedness.
2019, Murals of North Nashville, Frist Art Museum
Nuveen Barwari, Marlos E’van, and Courtney Adair Johnson, with Opportunity NOW and International Teen Outreach Program participants. Where we were. Where we are. Where we are going. 2019. Mixed media on panel, 96 x 144 in.
Hangs at Mcgruder Family resource center, 2013 25th Ave North, Nashville, TN 37208
Hot Cheetos: Activism and Junkfood
Chanel to Chanel, Nashville TN
2020
Barwari, E’van and Johnson first came together in 2018 and again in 2019, working together with youth on a summer program with McGruder Social Practice Artist Residency (M-SPAR). There are many consensus to their relationship, each artists was raised in the southern United States yet with different heritages and backgrounds that play an important part of their own art practices. Their interested in social justice, historical narratives and use of available material have interlaced them into a working collective. Barwari takes fabrics, family photos and cultural accessories, altering them to bring conversations forward and relevant. E’van creates dialogue whether in paint or performance on issues of identity, violence and media. Johnson a reuse artist, develops with an awareness of materials by sourcing supplies (and encouraging others to help in the diverting of waste), using everyday intimate objects to create a story. They look to address themes that have come up in each artists work individually and also in conversations that have impacted them collectively while working together in M-SPAR.
