First published: December 2025
The late Leroy Johnson transformed discarded materials into complex sculptural narratives that tell the stories of Black life in Philadelphia.
Leroy Johnson was fascinated by the way the humanity of a city is revealed in the texture of its urban environment, in both its daily cacophony of noise, trash and deterioration, and the vibrant life of its communities. He spent decades walking the streets of his hometown of Philadelphia, collecting whatever caught his eye, whether something as small as a gum wrapper or as disposable as a scrap of cardboard. These fragments were transformed by Johnson into complex works through his particular eye for found-object alchemy.
Who Is Eligible?, between 2010 and 2015, 24 x 10 x 15 in. / 61 x 25.5 x 38 cm
By ALLISON C MEIER
This is an article extract; read the full article in Raw Vision 125.
