smells i see
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Picture
Kara Walker-No, Kara Walker-Yes, Kara Walker-?, (2009)
Art of War
 
Her billing is lost on the last page of our conscience
amongst artifacts and disappearing bees.  Photos
displayed of white sand shores and mango sunsets
neglect melons rotting on Jamaican vines as the

WTO declares exports denied.  Gardens of Eden on
Haitian streets show Adam and Eve running through
fruit filled markets as babies die starving on corners
because no one paints fallow fields and subsidized

rice.  Homage is paid to Egyptian tombs, masks of
gold, corpses and Cleopatra, while food riots grace the
banks of the Nile and mass graves honor no one. 
Which museum will house Rwandan skulls and DNA

maps of Diaspora slaves?  Will Damien Hirst’s blood
diamond thirst reveal the art’s identity or time of death;
its art, for the love of God.  Myanmar dictates
performance art as we watch the body count rise on our

HDTV telethon meter, 1,000,000, 1,000,001, 1,000,002,
1,000,003....... and Katrina became the most famous
name in New Orleans replacing Bo Diddley and Louis
Armstrong while Kara Walker sleeps soundly with

Norton antivirus soothing her bestial desires.  Wynton
Marsalis, play a dirge for the baby men mining coltan
and the baby men fighting in the DRC because they’ll
never have a sexy iPhone to read Sun Tzu’s The Art of

War, widely read by men framed in paintings lining
castle walls.  Young men and women quilt tales of despair
in a world built on greed.  Bombs paint streets with
blood and debris reminiscent of Jackson Pollack canvases
and mothers cry for their babies in the name of martyrdom.

Guernica, remind us why you survive.  Gwendolyn Brooks
reminds me, furious flowers live among the weeds to win
the battles we have to win and war has its consequences.
1,000,004, 1,000,005, 1,000,006, 1,000,007…........
_____________________________________________
Copyright © 2008 by F. Geoffrey Johnson   All rights reserved
First published in Kara Walker-No, Kara Walker-Yes, Kara Walker-?, 2009

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  • Home
  • Bio / CV
    • F. Geoffrey Johnson's Artist CV
    • F. Geoffrey Johnson's CV Addendum
    • Poetry Bio
    • Fine Art Bio
    • Artist Statement
  • Art Gallery
    • Confluence Exhibition New Works (2022) >
      • identity theft: erasure (2022)
      • identity theft: i.d. bracelets-no i.d.
      • mend
      • writing about trees is difficult
      • gone fishin'
      • identity theft: rice bearers (2022)
      • blanket statement
    • series: identity theft (2017-2022) >
      • identity theft: erasure (2018)
      • identity theft: i.d. bracelets-no i.d.
      • identity theft: washington
      • identity theft: jefferson
      • identity theft: johnson
      • identity theft: scars
      • identity theft: rice bearers (2021)
      • identity theft: unlocked
    • series: environment: capped >
      • seabird nest
      • wild bird food: special mix
      • disappearing B's
      • bottlenose dolphin
    • series: confined (2017-2022) >
      • confined: NOW
      • confined: requiem for katrina
      • confined: c miners
      • confined: history re-mixed
      • confined: tears
    • Otis College Residency: 2018 >
      • identity theft: erasure
      • black +
      • seabird nest
      • orange is new black
      • taglines
    • Repurposed Objects: 2013-2019 >
      • america take a knee 4 me
      • stick a fork in it, it's done!
      • chain master
      • planting seeds
      • crippling crutches
      • Lotus: Out of Focus
      • Furious Flowers: Birmingham '63
    • Re-purposed Objects: 2010-2012 >
      • Sleepless in Rwanda
      • Screwed
      • Nigeria: Soiled, Soaked & Silent
      • currents (diptych)
      • Tobacco Road
      • Sole Soldier
      • Domino Effect / Foreign Policy
      • Mapping: Between the Lines-Redlining-Bluelining
    • Visual Poetry >
      • windows
      • Furious Flowers: Birmingham '63
      • stick a fork in it, it's done!
      • confined: history re-mixed: an uncivil guide
      • crippling crutches
      • gaza math
      • Sleepless in Rwanda
    • Gallery: Abstract Paintings >
      • Elements
      • Giants of Jazz
      • Green Mountain
      • Liberty
      • Shadows
    • Gallery: Representational Paintings 2008-2010 >
      • Furious Flowers
      • Freedom's Call
      • The Gathering
      • Marooned
      • Unspoken
    • Gallery: Representational Paintings 2006-2007 >
      • A Cry for Peace
      • Contemplation
      • Chains
      • Crossroads
      • Spirit Dancer
      • Hope
      • Tanzanian Waterfall
      • Quiet Storm
    • Furniture >
      • Redwood Clocks >
        • "Aladdin Lamp" Redwood Burl Clock
        • "Buffalo" Redwood Burl Clock
        • "Firebird" Redwood Burl Clock
        • "Fire" Pendulum Clock
        • "Pterodactyl" Pendulum Clock
      • Redwood Tables
  • Poetry Gallery
    • eight years
    • a note to hip hop
    • gaza math
    • word
    • Hate the Game
    • Outside the Box
    • Art of War
    • Changing Times
    • Missing Pictures
    • Extinction
    • i know Haiti
    • who am i
    • words for sale
    • A Conversation in Poem
  • Residencies
    • Otis College of Art and Design L. A. Summer Residency 2018 (video) >
      • identity theft: erasure
      • black +
      • seabird nest
      • orange is new black
      • taglines
      • @ Work L. A. Summer Residency 2018
    • Caversham >
      • About Residency
      • Residency Video (2009)
      • A Conversation in Poem
  • Books
  • Fine Art Reproductions
    • History Re-Mixed
    • Hate the Game
  • Original Art Purchase
  • News / Events
    • Current/Future/Past Events
  • Photo Gallery
  • MY LIBRARY: Art Reviews, Books, Catalogues, Pamphlets, Ephemera
    • Elevate: Art Above Underground
    • The Dream Continues...
    • A Long Time Comin'...
    • 9.5 Theses on Art & Class
  • Contact
  • Browser Instructions