Monjett Graham

Monjett Graham (born 1946) is an American contemporary visual artist and writer. His work addresses topics such as spirituality and African American history.^[1] Graham is known for his paintings, prints, and mixed media collage work.

Monjett Graham, was born in 1946, in Omaha, Nebraska. His father was Richard Graham, a government meat inspector.^[2] He graduated in 1964 from Omaha North High School.^[3]

Graham obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.^[1] Graham then went on to complete his Masters degree in psychology and art in 1974 from the Lone Mountain College. Graham continued his education at the University of Toronto, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the Academy of Art University.

Graham moved to San Francisco, California in October 1969, from Omaha, Nebraska. In the early 1970s he wrote a regular column on culture for the Sun-Reporter, an African American newspaper in San Francisco. He also contributed artwork to The Rip Off Review of Western Culture magazine comic; two pieces were published in the first issue. The first drawing was entitled "Urban Mood" created with a single woodcut and pencil. The second drawing was created with woodcuts only, three soldiers, entitled "Occupation". The subject matter, at that time was social commentary and surrealistic landscapes.

In 1970, Graham had his first one man exhibition, The Fire Cycle at Lone Mountain College in San Francisco.^[4] Graham became an exhibiting member of the BlackMan's Art Gallery on Haight Street in San Francisco, which was the first African American owned art gallery in Northern California.^[5]

Fantasy Landscapes

In 1976, Graham moved from San Francisco to Sausalito, California, and then a year later moved to Mill Valley, California. In the mid-1970s Graham started "Fantasy Landscapes" series, which consisted of exotic or mysterious landscapes often punctuated by temples, pyramids or ancient buildings. Sometimes these paintings were accented with a single expressive character to embellish the scenario with specific attitude.

Graham created portraits of historical, military leaders from around the world, using pencil and conte as a medium. These drawings were then applied to T-shirts and sportswear via silk screen. This fashioned a marketable commodity, which involved a mail order business, complete with a color catalogue, that supplied retail buyers and sports shops across America. The business, incorporated in 1981, known as the "California Corporation" advertised in major nationwide magazines such as Soldier of Fortune, American Handgunner and Guns and Ammo. Eventually, it also included illustrations of warplanes and military vehicles. The business due to increased competition, ended in the late 1980s. During this time Graham also expanded his artwork to a mixed media collage technique, which he used paper, thin bits of fabric on canvas. He would then experiment with larger objects, such as wood panel, leather, metal and plastic parts, as well as boots, and entire pieces of clothing. Starting out as abstract imagery, Monjett's mixed media collage technique evolved into illustrating animals and a variety of scenarios involving the human form.

Graham created several series of mixed media collage paintings throughout the 1990s. The first completed series was the "Music Series" which was first exhibited in 1991 at the Piazza Gallery in Sausalito, California. This is an ongoing series still in production, which portrays music in the United States as medium of stage entertainment. Other series done in the mixed media collage technique were the "Religion Series" and the "Sports Series" and the "Black Holocaust" series. The "Black Holocaust" series was exhibited in 1995 at Jahn Arts International in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The series illustrated the historical narrative of the West African slave trade.

Graham has worked on the "Music Series" mixed media collage paintings and completed a series of paintings entitled "2010" which are all abstract expressionist paintings on canvas. Graham uses only three colors of acrylic paint with the "2010" series, and has worked with the paintings as if the canvas was an uneven, textured stone wall or cave interior.

The ongoing study of Chinese calligraphy led Graham to incorporate that ancient system of pictograms into the design of his abstract expressionist painting. In September 2012, Graham exhibited, at the Joyce Gordon Gallery in Oakland California. These works of art were the first products of this unusual blending of style, technique and Chinese imagery into a series of colorful and rhythmic paintings. Completed in a specific order beginning with the abstract painting as a foundation, Graham integrated the calligraphy character into the painting as it neared completion. As the series progressed the calligraphy figures evolved as larger and more dominant features of the paintings. The last few works of the series allowed the calligraphy to be the foundation of the paintings and even overflowing off the canvases so that only a portion of the Chinese characters are discernible. This dominant feature of one or more calligraphy characters, combined with colorful abstraction is the current direction of Monjett's abstract expressionist paintings. From his newly opened studio in Beijing China, Graham is inspired, daily, to explore and open new pathways for the integration of Western Abstract painting and the ancient language and imagery of Chinese calligraphy.

• Monjett Graham, at the Joyce Gordon Gallery
• San Francisco Gate, Visual Art August 17, 2006
• Exhibits
• The Rip Off Review of Western Culture, First Issue
• Artist uses startling effects, Merced County Times, August 30, 1990
• Artist turns trash into treasure, Merced Sun Star, August 31, 1990
• Musical sinspiration rings true in paintings by Monjett Mill Valley Record, March 6, 1991
• Art Notes, Marlene Tait, Mill Valley Literary Review, Summer 1991
• Local artist combines "Light and Rhythm" to produce eclectic and original paintings, Marlene Tait, March 3, 1992
• Visions of Light, Marlene Tait, Mill Valley Literary Review Spring 1992
• Mixed media gets mythic, Humboldt Times Standard August 6, 1999
• Pop Icons, Mythology And The Soul Humboldt Beacon August 12, 1990