Lenox Avenue

Music flows through this print, with the figure’s prominent ear and closed eye overlaid with the shape of the piano and keys. Titled Lenox Avenue, in reference to the street in Harlem, New York, it captures the nationwide influence of that center of Black music and culture. Sargent Johnson primarily worked as a sculptor, creating large-scale installations for the Work Projects Administration. Johnson drew on motifs from African sculpture in an effort to bridge a history of artistic practice with his own experience as an African American artist. His approach is visible here as he plays with forms to communicate a sense of sculptural relief in only two dimensions.