CLASS OF 2022: Black Arts Movement artist puts an honorary award in the frame

A nationally acclaimed British visual artist has been awarded an honorary degree from the University of Wolverhampton for her contribution to the arts and creative industries sector. 

Claudette Elaine Johnson, MBE, has been awarded a Doctor of Arts in recognition of her work over the years, being described by Modern Art Oxford as “one of the most accomplished figurative artists in Britain today.” 

Honorary awards are presented by the University of Wolverhampton to people who have made a significant contribution to their field of expertise. 

Claudette is known for her large-scale drawings of Black women and involvement with the BLK Art Group. She was born in Manchester and now lives and works in London.  She started her career as part of the newly formed BLK Art Group, which she joined in 1981 while she was a student at the University of Wolverhampton where she studied Fine Art, graduating in 1982. 

The BLK Art Group was formed in Wolverhampton in 1979. The group was inspired by America’s Black Arts Movement (BAM) part of the larger Black Power Movement.  The BLK Art Group’s first national convention was held at the University of Wolverhampton’s School of Art in 1982. 

In the 1980s Claudette showed her work in a number of significant shows including Five Black Women, Africa Centre, London, (1983); Black Women Time Now, Battersea Arts Centre, London, (1984); The Thin Black Line, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, (1985), and In This Skin: Drawings by Claudette Johnson, Black Art Gallery, London, (1992); I Came to Dance, Modern Art Oxford (2019); Still Here, Hollybush Gardens (2021). 

Her work is held in numerous public collections, including Tate, British Council Collection, Arts Council Collection, Manchester Art Gallery, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Rugby Museum, and Herbert Art Gallery & Museum.