Leasho Johnson Jamaica, b. 1984

Overview
Leasho Johnson is a multimedia artist whose work engages with cultural stereotypes surrounding gender fluidity and sexual spectrums. His works frequently mobilize sexually explicit imagery and culturally specific materials in order to challenge existing constructs of masculinity, especially as expressed in Jamaican popular culture. Johnson is interested in the ways that personal, ancestral, and communal narratives surrounding sexuality and gender identity have been, and continue to be, shaped by the legacy of empire and colonialism. His work explores how the tensions arising from these realities affect the contemporary search for meaning. Johnson earned a BFA in Visual Communication from the Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts, and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been exhibited in group exhibitions at the National Gallery of Jamaica as well as in the Jamaica Biennial 2012, 2014 and 2017; Jamaican Pulse: Art and Politics from Jamaica and the Diaspora, Bristol, UK; Jamaican Routes, Oslo, Norway; Jamaica Jamaica, Philharmonie, Paris and Brazil; and Of Skin and Sand, National Gallery of Bahamas, among others.
Works
Exhibitions