Johnny Floyd
Johnny Floyd is a self-taught painter working in Atlanta, Georgia and Detroit, Michigan. He started painting when it became clear that creating was the only thing that made any sense.
His work examines the African American experience through an interrogation of both historical and current events while simultaneously imagining a sustainable Black future. Through the melding of figurative, surrealistic, and abstracted practices, Floyd employs a broad artistic lens to articulate the desire for a path forward.
Johnny Floyd’s work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions at Olin Hall Galleries, Roanoke, VA; the Huston Museum of African American Culture, Huston, TX; Condit Gallery, Dallas, TX; Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC; and the The Grace Museum, Abilene, TX; among others. He has completed artist residencies with the Slavery North Artist Fellowship at University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA and the McColl Center, Charlotte, NC. Floyd’s work can be found in the collections of the Dallas Museum of Art, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke College Permanent Collection, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Beth Rudin DeWoody Private Collection, and the Eddystone Detroit Public Collection.
Johnny Floyd, The Resurrection of Narcissus, 2022, oil, acrylic, and inkjet photo transfer on canvas, 24" x 18", Roanoke College Permanent Collection, Gift of Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo & The Dorothea L. Leonhardt Foundation, Inc.
Jonny Floyd, Some are Born to Endless Night, 2022, oil, acrylic, and inkjet photo transfer on canvas, 30" x 24", Roanoke College Permanent Collection, Gift of Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo & The Dorothea L. Leonhardt Foundation, Inc.
Johnny Floyd, Faded at the Angle of God, 2021, oil, acrylic, and 24kt gold leaf on canvas, 36" x 24", Roanoke College Permanent Collection, Gift of Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo & The Dorothea L. Leonhardt Foundation, Inc.
Johnny Floyd, The Sun is a Distant Mirror, 2021, oil, acrylic, and 24kt gold leaf on canvas, 36" x 36', Roanoke College Permanent Collection, Gift of Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo & The Dorothea L. Leonhardt Foundation, Inc.
Johnny Floyd, Child Be Free, 2024, India ink and cotton thread on paper, 20" x 16", Roanoke College Permanent Collection, Gift of Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo & The Dorothea L. Leonhardt Foundation, Inc.
Johnny Floyd, The Rebirth of Venus, 2024, oil, wax, acrylic medium & thread on sewn canvas, 31" x 40", Roanoke College Permanent Collection, Gift of Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo & The Dorothea L. Leonhardt Foundation, Inc.