#john hanning

[johnhanning]

[johnhanning]

When I was a little boy I spent a lot of time at my Uncle Johnny’s house.  What I liked the most about being there was looking at and reading his books about Native American Indian Art.  I would spend hours going through those books thinking about faraway places and wondering what messages the Indians were trying to convey by painting petroglyphs on the wall of caves.

I often visit the chambers of my mind searching the mental file cabinets - looking for a memory of something from the past that was never resolved.  This is part of my process for making work.  Sometimes I discover something I wasn’t looking for and thoughts will linger for months if not years until I decide to address the subject pictorially or with words.

For the longest time I struggled to understand who I am as an artist - I felt like I didn’t belong in this world.  Making work on the subjects I discover in those file cabinets is a way to work through unresolved issues and move forward.   Time changes things, but for as long as I can remember I’ve always been an artist - leaving my messages, my work, on walls of the physical and digital worlds.

[johnhanning]

If you're in NYC stop by Spring/Break Art Show, 4 Times Square. I'm in room 2322.

[johnhanning]

In 2015 I started thinking about the possibilities of my book becoming an installation.  Instinctively I thought about color theory - the language of color and how to create a code. (a color code)

The different shades of gray are speaking about being diagnosed with AIDS - the months leading up to my time in the hospital and the struggles I faced while healing after the hospital.  

The pastel colors speak about thinking that I might actually make it.  I write in the book about wondering if I would ever make love again.  Wondering if my body would ever get back to what it used to be.  I touched myself and after I came - I knew I was going to be okay.

The metallic papers speak about glimmers of hope along the way.  When I would wake up each morning in the hospital and see the sunlight - I knew I had made it another day.

The neon colors are my farewell to AIDS - farewell to the gray.  Even though there are things that trigger memories of the gray,  I choose to be present - to live in the now.  

[w94]

I Survived AIDS, John Hanning, 17.25” X 12.25

[johnhanning]

I SURVIVED (AIDS)

[missboomissquick]

THE A I D S M E M O R I A L on Instagram: “. . "Within days of moving to #NYC in the summer of '83, I read an article about the arrest of #KeithHaring (May 4, 1958 – February 16,…”

1,242 Likes, 23 Comments - THE A I D S M E M O R I A L (@theaidsmemorial) on Instagram: “. . "Within days of moving to #NYC in the summer of '83, I read an article about the arrest of…”

I survived AIDS (2013), digital c-print. John Hanning

[violetcrownchronicles]

115 Years Old to Marry - Hand the Judge a Few Dollars Then Burst Out Crying

5 FEB 1885. Austin Daily Statesman.

AUSTIN AFFAIRS.

Yesterday an old negro named John Hanning, who told a reporter that he was 115 years old, got a license to marry Miss Sylla Lott, a frisky young colored damsel of 20, both of Austin. Wedding to occur next week. 

Yesterday a foot-peddler, giving his name as Repak, a Bohemian, was before Judge Von Rosenberg for failure to pay his occupation tax. He was fined $5.00 and costs, amounting to $18.00. This he paid in a queer manner. He would hand the judge a few dollars and then burst out crying and vow it was the last cent he had. This was repeated several times until he paid it all. The officer who arrested him said he had over $200 on his person.