"Art is Business" BlogTalkRadio Interview with artist Larissa J. Akinremi.
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| Headshot of Larissa J. Akinremi
Artist Statement
The daughter of creative visionaries activist Bobbie Johnson and Zaid A. Maalikulmulk, 80s club kid and social curator Larissa Johnson-Akinremi (b. Baltimore, MD, 1969) began her career jewelry designer in the early 1990s after college and years later as a freelance make-up artist and fashion stylist. In 2000 she became the host, promoter, and nightlife social curator for Deep House Page, Chicago's premier source for music entertainment and dance culture. Now her focus is on photography and curation. She is inspired by nature, people, social interaction, music, and dance culture. In addition, she enjoys the surreal and spiritual realm, and some of her work encompasses those forms. Larissa's process includes photography of the human condition, a play on light and body movement, spoken word, animation, video, and performance art. In her spare time and upon request, she is also a DJ. Johnson's first solo exhibition, People, Places, and Things, took place in 2015 at Tangible Things. Her work was most recently featured at Beats and Treats, a solo exhibition at Chicago's Bronzeville Room 43, which featured local artists.
For the One
Dancer: Sadira Muhammad
Media: Digital print on canvas, 2017
20 X 16
The One is a Universal term for Allah; God,
Tetragrammaton,
Jehovah, Yahweh, Father, Abba, or The Light.
The dancer moves with a finger pointing upwards.
This is
symbolic of The One.
The photo was taken at Gele Day, an annual event hosted by Pilar Awodola
Songofemi Audain-Reed at 63rd Street Beach.
Night Moves
Media: Digital print on canvas, 2016
20 X 16
Night Moves features dancer Cat Mahari in an evening dance at
Foster Street Beach.
Black Seeds in the
Garden
Media: Digital print on canvas, 2013
12 X 8
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer
covering. To a Black mother, her children and sons are her seeds. She nurtures,
covers love, and protects them from seeing them bloom. The photo was taken at Garfield Park
Conservatory.
A Dance for Mother
and Child
Media: Digital print on canvas, 2017
12 X 12
When I was a little girl, I used to dance with my mother. It
was the closest thing to God. This picture holds so many memories, and I
am glad I caught it. The photo was taken at Gele Day, an annual event hosted by Pilar. Awodola Songofemi Audain-Reed at 63rd Street Beach.
Protect Our Children
Media: Digital print on canvas
12 X 8
Often times our children are shot and killed in the streets
while going to school, running an errand, playing in front of the house, or just playing basketball.
I was sitting in the community park at Reavis Math and Science
Academy and captured these young men playing basketball ball and couldn't help
but notice the caption on the mural "Protect Our Children."
Lotus
Media: Digital print on canvas, 2016
12 X 12
Lotus Love is a Healer specializing in Reiki, life coaching,
massage therapy, and crystal energy healing. The photo was taken along the beach shoreline at 67th
South Shore Drive.
| In 2016, Ms. Johnson’s work was featured in a group exhibition; Continuous Span at the Hyde Park Center and her along with other collaborating curators facilitated the exhibition Taking Shapes at the Hyde Park Art Center. 
Her photography was selected to appear in Connect Gallery Hyde 2017 and Connect Gallery South Shore in the fall of 2018, a weekend Showcase of local Chicago artists hosted by the Silver Room's Pop-Up Gallery. Larissa Johnson lives and works in Chicago and is the curator for Sounding Bronzeville, a gathering space along the Burnham Wildlife Corridor, south lakefront region. She is also the promoter and creative director for Universal Dance Music. She also served as the coordinator for The Great Migration Centennial and Bronzeville Community Development Partnership and assisted in special projects with the Bronzeville Visitors Association. Ms. Johnson is the president of Race to Knowledge and Beyond, successor to her late mother's organization Race to Knowledge, and founder of "the social movement."
Larissa is the Creative and Promotions Director for "Universal Dance Music," as well as other collaborative projects with Chicago artists, historians, and creatives. In addition, she received her Visual Arts Certification from the University of Chicago Graham School and Hyde Park Art Center in 2017.
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