James Johnson is a Philadelphia artist with an intriguing take on our relationship with the things we possess. No, he has no connection with the tv show Hoarders. He does, however, have a strong connection with the principal theme that supports I Come From a Serious Place. This solo exhibit that Johnson recently delivered to the Oakland University Art Gallery is imbued with a calculated mix of seriousness and bitter humor - the latter, in some respects, being a direct result of the former. Is the accumulated weight of our belongings a convincing or valid verdict on our self-worth and identity? And if it is, have we lost something irreplaceable in the process of "getting and spending?" Johnson posits that question in such a subtle way that it is virtually impossible not to answer it - even if the answer we give is an equally subtle lie.
