Exhibit: African American Abstractions
African American Abstractions
Surround yourself in the vivid colors and exuberant shapes and patterns of abstract artists James Dupree, Femi Johnson, and Kenneth J. Lewis
Area abstract artists James Dupree, Femi Johnson, and Kenneth J. Lewis worked closely with curator Janis Purcell to select works that bring an explosion of color and shape to the galleries of Trenton City Museum. Watch for date and details about our Artists’ Roundtable!
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
James Dupree has been a practicing artist in the city of Philadelphia for over five decades. With exhibitions and residencies of national and international scope, Dupree has created a legacy within the world of Fine Arts and Culture. His mediums include but are not limited to paint, mixed media, and sculpture.
With 35 different series of work reflecting the life of a contemporary African American Artist, Dupree’s art treads the line between politics, culture, and fine art. What lies beyond the viewer’s initial aesthetic impression, are poignant messages on race and class. As a master of his craft, the intentionality behind his work is supported by the intersection of his expression of color, form, and unparalleled technique. Paired with Dupree’s ardent activism as a stronghold within the Philadelphia community for the last forty years, this artist and agitator carefully impacts all which he touches.
Dupree holds a BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design, an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania, and has attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. After which, he went on to teach at Arts Centers and Fine Arts Schools, including Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, University of Pennsylvania, and Crewe and Alsager College in England.
Currently, James Dupree owns and operates two Contemporary Fine Art galleries. Dupree Gallery Philadelphia, which has been open since the 1980’s, is located at 703 South 6th Street in Philadelphia, The newest gallery location is located in the vibrant small town of Lambertville New Jersey at 10 North Union Street. Both locations host a variety of solo and group exhibitions of artwork crafted by renowned national and international contemporary artists.
Femi J. Johnson’s abstract storyscapes embody a uniquely raw and permissive form of contemporary abstraction. Floating harmonized color, shaped figural elements, and snippets of line drawing all find their position and coalesce as expressions of Johnson’s worldview. Familiar places, formal or self-educated beliefs, and personal or media-influenced subjects abstractly saturate his mutable compositions, freeing the viewer to explore interchangeable scenarios. Translating chaos into temporary but believable order on canvas, Johnson’s cohesive improvisations exalt the rich connectivity of life.
Femi J. Johnson was born in Manhattan, New York, and raised in Easton, Pennsylvania. His early talent in graphite and charcoal drawing led to a professional career as a Master Draftsman & Designer for companies in Pennsylvania and New York. After thousands of technical drawings over decades of work, Johnson redirected his creative energy back to the fine arts. He studied in a two year studio art program at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York, where his engagement with contemporary and modernist art in commune with his Yoruba spirituality inspired his emerging studio practice. In 2012 Johnson returned to the Lehigh Valley, where he currently works out of his studio in downtown Allentown, Pennsylvania. He has exhibited extensively across the region and internationally, with works in corporate and private collections.
Johnson is documented in Afrocosmologies: American Reflections at the Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut. Shifting Time: African American Artists 2020-2021. A Gathering Of The Tribes#16: The Black Lives Matter Issue.
His work is held in the permanent collections of The Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art in Asbury, New Jersey; the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora at the University of Maryland, in College Park, Maryland.
In 2016 Johnson was recognized with an Allentown Arts Ovation Award for Outstanding Achievement in Visual Arts. From November 2018 through July 2019, he was named Allentown Art Museum’s Artist-in-Residence, and for five years, Johnson has been a featured artist at the Museum’s Cocktails and Collecting event. He remains actively engaged as a teacher, mentor, and ardent supporter of the arts community.
Kenneth J. Lewis Sr. is a self-taught contemporary visual artist, born and raised in New Jersey. Remarkably, he did not paint at all until the age of 47—creating his first work after experiencing a sudden, overwhelming urge to express himself through art. Since that pivotal moment, he has developed a powerful and personal visual language that blends abstraction, symbolism, geometry, and landscape.
His works often begin with layered and expressive backgrounds. From this abstract foundation, he constructs environments and structures—typically using painter’s tape to shape forms, pathways, and geometric compositions. Kenneth’s pieces feature vibrant acrylics, hand-drawn details, spray paint, pastels, and oil glazes. His process allows for both spontaneous expression and structured design, reflecting the balance between chaos and order in life.
Kenneth’s artistic practice is rooted in passion, energy, and intuition. He lives a creative and stress-free life, often painting for hours at a time in his gallery/studio, the KJL Art Sanctuary in Ewing, NJ. This space serves not only as his personal studio but also as a gallery and community hub for exhibitions, paint parties, and workshops. It accommodates up to 20 people and is available by appointment.
His work has been exhibited in public and private spaces throughout New Jersey and beyond—including Capital Health Gallery in Hopewell, the Hamilton Township Library (where his works have rotated every six months for over six years), Trenton Public Library, Starbucks Trenton, Ewing Municipal Building, Trenton Social, and numerous group exhibitions. He has upcoming solo shows and large-scale projects scheduled through 2025.
Kenneth J. Lewis Sr. is driven not by academic theories or traditional rules, but by the emotional and spiritual force behind creation. His mantra, “One moment. One muse. One masterpiece,” captures the essence of his work: deeply human, rooted in experience, and boldly expressive.
Artists
James Dupree
Femi Johnson