Witchdoctor II
Marie Johnson Calloway
Contemporary Art
While having a swimming pool installed in the backyard of her San Jose, California home, art professor Marie Johnson Calloway replaced her wooden fence with one that was two feet taller. Since she never let anything go to waste, Johnson Calloway then repurposed the discarded planks for her paintings, adding heads, and, finally, clothing. Witchdoctor II is one of these magnificent assemblages created to resemble everyday heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. Reflecting a growing sense of Black pride and community engagement, this cool depiction of a modern-day healer has political buttons pinned to his stylish red-fishnet tank that celebrate historic Black neighborhoods in Los Angeles and Detroit.
MEDIUM
Mixed media (plywood, pigment, human hair, fabric, metal, plastic)
DATES
ca. 1970
DIMENSIONS
33 1/2 × 24 × 1 1/2 in. (85.1 × 61 × 3.8 cm)
storage (Blueboard/Tycore storage support): 3 × 31 × 40 in. (7.6 × 78.7 × 101.6 cm)
(show scale)
SIGNATURE
Signed on verso
INSCRIPTIONS
Titled on verso
ACCESSION NUMBER
2012.80.20
CREDIT LINE
Gift of R.M. Atwater, Anna Wolfrom Dove, Alice Fiebiger, Joseph Fiebiger, Belle Campbell Harriss, and Emma L. Hyde, by exchange, Designated Purchase Fund, Mary Smith Dorward Fund, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, and Carll H. de Silver Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Marie Johnson Calloway (American, 1920 – 2018). Witchdoctor II, ca. 1970. Mixed media (plywood, pigment, human hair, fabric, metal, plastic), 33 1/2 × 24 × 1 1/2 in. (85.1 × 61 × 3.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of R.M. Atwater, Anna Wolfrom Dove, Alice Fiebiger, Joseph Fiebiger, Belle Campbell Harriss, and Emma L. Hyde, by exchange, Designated Purchase Fund, Mary Smith Dorward Fund, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, and Carll H. de Silver Fund, 2012.80.20. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2012.80.20_PS11.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 2012.80.20_PS11.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2021
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
© artist or artist's estate
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