Artist Statement

In 1982, just two years after arriving in New York, I proposed a performance piece to Ivan Karp, the owner of O.K. Harris Gallery in SoHo.  Mr. Karp, generously granted me permission to perform beneath his gallery windows. 

Art-a-la-Cart was a “spoof” on the then current art world “fast art” trend.  For several weekends during the summer of 1982, I was stationed in front of the gallery, with a vending cart, hawking design-it-yourself “shish kabobs” to the public.  This proved to be immense fun for me, as well as for art-lovers and gallery hoppers in SoHo! 

Artist Statement

The Meadow Mogul and Commodification Station a performance by Carla Rae Johnson for the Collaborative Concepts Farm Project 2010

The Meadow Mogul (a humorous character motivated by greed and self-interest, and indifferent to practices of ecology and sustainability) performed a parody in the pasture on a working farm in Garrison, NY.  The Meadow Mogul encouraged visitors to participate in the commodification of “nature” and the earth. 

The Meadow Mogul is dedicated to the proposition that all of nature is created for human consumption and commodification. 

Artist Statement

This piece is an homage to  Fannie Lou Hamer, a poor, black, Mississippi sharecropper who suffered and fought for voting rights in her state in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. Mrs. Hamer lost her job and her home; had her life threatened numerous times; was jailed, and badly beaten for her voting-rights activism.

Artist Statement

Artist, Carla Rae Johnson (wearing a sandwich-board) solicits visitors to “take home a memento of your day at the farm: it’s the ultimate photo-op!” With a large-format view-camera, photographer, Howard Goodman, clicks the shutter on visitors as they pose against a beautiful backdrop of farm and woods.  Each participant is presented an envelope containing their memento/print. They are also given a specific time at which they may open the envelope. (The “Obscura” process requires seven hours to develop.)  A delightful surprise will greet those who wait!

Artist Statement

In 2013, HVCCA the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art curated a “Pop-Up Exhibition” in a storefront on Main Street in Peekskill.  For this exhibition opening, I did a satirical performance piece titled “Fast-Fold Demo.”   Dressed in a lab-coat as a “Fast-Fold Associate” I offered a demonstration of cloth-napkin folding, while sharing information on proper dining etiquette at fast-food establishments.  

Artist Statement

Rose Bonavita, of 224 Depew Street, in Peekskill, NY worked on the assembly line of Eastern Aircraft during World War II. In 1943, she and her partner, Jennie Fiorito, of Ossining “… established a record by drilling 900 holes, driving more than 3,345 rivets and, thus, completing the entire trailing edge wing-assembly in less than 6 hours on a single shift.”   The wing assembly was “… approved by Navy inspectors without a single bit of reworking.” 

Artist Statement

Saunder’s Farm brings visitors from all over the region every fall to see sculpture and performances sponsored by Collaborative Concepts.  

In 2017, a map of the United States was spread out on the ground at the crest of the hill, in Field Three.  Early in the afternoon, the artist, dressed in bib-overalls, a straw hat, and steel-toed boots quietly began the process of collecting cow-patties with a shovel and wheel-barrow. 

Artist Statement

Fannie Lou Hamer Was Willing to Die for Your Right to Vote

Spoken Word Performance 2018

Having long admired the life and work of Fannie Lou Hamer, I wrote a 20 minute presentation using her experiences and courageous acts to inspire people in Peekskill, NY to help get out the vote.  In 2018, I shared this spoken word performance at two events: 1. “Incite the Vote!” organized by the collective  “Art & Activism” and 2. “What Now?” organized by another art collective “In_Question.”  (I am a founding member of both collectives.)  The performance was accompanied by the sculpture: “Voting Booth for Fannie Lou Hamer.

Artist Statement

At the apex of Saunder’s Farm, in Garrison, NY is a huge, field on a gently rolling hill.  The field has been mowed, but has little in common with the nearby Garrison Country Club: its beautiful golf-course, and manicured greens.  It is here, strangely enough, that an overweight and overly confident golfer appeared during the annual sculpture exhibition sponsored by Collaborative Concepts.  With bluster and bravado, this golfer demonstrated his dubious  golfing prowess among and between the cow-pies, and the curious art-loving visitors.  Yelling for his caddy and his golf-cart (neither of which ever appeared); smacking little worlds around the field with hammer, sickle, and pussy-grabbing golf clubs;  marking his positions with tiny American flags, and demanding devoted attention from everyone present; the red-capped narcissist plagued the field all afternoon until the cows came home.