# Monjett Graham

Monjett Graham is a contemporary American artist and writer.

## Biography and education

Monjett Graham, was born in Omaha, Nebraska, where he obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska. His major was European and American History with a minor in Art. Monjett Graham then went on to complete his Master's thesis in Psychology and Art in 1974 from the Lone Mountain College. Graham continued his education at the University of Toronto, The San Francisco Institute of Art, and also attended The San Francisco Art Academy, focus was on Art.
Monjett Graham is a daily practitioner of Transcendental Meditation, yoga and weight lifting. He started these life-style features in the 1970s to increase his artistic productivity and relieve stress. Working out five days a week, he is a certified personal trainer and specializes in strength training for adults. His hobby is studying Chinese calligraphy which lead Monjett to move to Beijing China in the fall of 2012.

## 1970s

Monjett 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, located 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 Monjett Graham had his first one man exhibition, "The Fire Cycle" at the San Francisco College for Women. The college had changed its name in 1971 to the Lone Mountain College Monjett 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.
* Fantasy Landscapes
In 1976, Monjett moved from San Francisco to Sausalito, California and then a year later moved to Mill Valley, California. In the mid-1970s Monjett 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.

## 1980s

Monjett 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 Monjett 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.

## 1990s

Monjett 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.

## Early 2000 Works of Art

Monjett 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. Monjett 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. This can be seen here in the "Gold Rush" painting within this article.

### 2012

The ongoing study of Chinese calligraphy led Monjett to incorporate that ancient system of pictograms into the design of his abstract expressionist painting. In September 2012, Monjett 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, Monjett 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, Monjett 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

## Exhibitions

| Year | Exhibitions |
| 2012 | September 7, 2012, Monjett Graham (Transfiguration), Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland, CA |
| 2011 | October 22, 2011, Monjett Graham Selected Paintings, Cassandra Kersting Expressions Gallery, Sausalito, CA |
| 2011 | September 6, 2011, Monjett Graham Selected Paintings, Joe Hamer Salon, Mill Valley, CA |
| 2008 | November 2008 Group Exhibition – paintings Art and Soul Gallery Burlingame, CA |
| 2006 | August 1 thru 31, 2006 "New Paintings 2006" Solo Exhibition – paintings O'Hanlon Center for the Arts Mill Valley, CA |
| 2005 | August 2005 Group Exhibition – paintings Art and Soul Gallery San Francisco, CA |
| 2005 | July 2 and 3, 2005 Fillmore Jazz Festival Fillmore/Washington Street Selected Paintings and Prints San Francisco, CA. |
| 2004 | May 7 and 8, 2005 Marin Open Studios Recent Paintings Mill Valley, CA. |
| 2004 | Oct 5 thru October 31, 2004 "Art and Politics" Group exhibition paintings and cartoons O'Hanlon Center for the Arts Mill Valley, CA. |
| 2004 | May 19 thru June 30, 2004 "Selected Paintings" Solo exhibition—paintings dava dava salon San Francisco, CA. |
| 2003 | April 5 through April 30, 2003 Solo Exhibition Recent Paintings: "Games and Luck" Toby's Gallery Point Reyes Station, CA |
| 2002 | October 21 – December 12, 2002 Group Exhibition "It Figures" Marin County Civic Center San Rafael, CA |
| 1999 | August 7 through August 31, 1999 "Man, Woman, and Mythology" One-man exhibition of mixed-media paintings Gallery Dog Eureka, CA |
| 1999 | July 5 through August 1, 1999 Heart of Care Inc. Artist in residence grants four-week summer arts project. Funded by the Nebraska Arts Council Omaha, NE |
| 1999 | "1999 Regional Invitational" Sponsored by Humboldt State University First Street Gallery Eureka, CA. |
| 1999 | January 8 – February 28, 1999 "Musical World" Solo Exhibition Recent Mix-Media Paintings and Giclee Prints Plaza Design Arcata, CA. |
| 1999 | November 14 – December 17, 1999 "7th Annual Marin Arts Council Members Exhibition" Paintings and Limited Edition Prints Corte Madera Town Center Corte Madera, CA. |
| 1999 | September 3 through December 31, 1998 "Windows on the Waterfront" Group Exhibition Paintings Jack London Square Oakland, CA. |
| 1998 | September 3 through October 30 "Annual Group Exhibition" Paintings Shamwari Gallery Oakland, CA. |
| 1997 | "Windows on Art" Project, 1997 Group Exhibition Alameda Historical Society Museum Alameda, CA. |
| 1997 | June 1 through June 30, 1997 "Exploring Collage" Solo Exhibition Mill Valley Art Commission Mill Valley City Hall Mill Valley, CA. |
| 1996 | October 24 through December 19, 1996 Group Exhibition – Paintings HAND Contemporary Arts San Francisco, CA. |
| 1995 | December 3 through January 3, 1995: "Kwanza Exhibition": Group Exhibition, Hennepin County Government Center, Minneapolis, MN |
| 1970s through the early 1990s | October 14 through December 3 "Jazz and Blues Night" Group Exhibition Sunrise Gallery San Francisco, CA. July 9 through August 30 "The Black Holocaust" One Man Exhibition Jahn Arts International Minneapolis, MN. January 26 through March 1 "Intersecting Cultural Lines" Group Exhibition Normandale Community College Bloomington, CA. December 3 through January 14 "Collector's Delight" Group Exhibition Sunrise Gallery San Francisco, CA. November 7 through January 31 "Recent Paintings" Solo Exhibition Frank Howard Allen Peal Estate Office Mill Valley, CA. December 18 through March 15 "Light & Rhythm 1992" Solo Exhibition – Paintings Gallery Piazza Sausalito, CA. February 28 through March 25 Solo Exhibition – Paintings Edward S. Curtis Gallery San Anselmo, CA. September 4 through 21 Solo Exhibition – Paintings Merced College Art Gallery Merced, CA. July 11 through August 25 Solo Exhibition – Paintings Pro-Arts Gallery Oakland, CA. April 18 through 23 "Exhibition ‘90" – Juried Exhibition Sun Gallery Hayward, CA. January 11 through February 28 Group Show – Paintings Hatley Martin Gallery San Francisco, CA. Group Show – Paintings Fort Mason San Francisco, CA One Man Show – Paintings and Prints Metes and Bounds Sausalito, CA Group Show – Prints San Francisco Artists Cooperative San Francisco, CA One Man Show – Paintings New Day Gallery San Francisco, CA Group Shows – PaintingsUnion Street Artist's Co-op San Francisco, CA, Paintings Brockman Art Gallery Los *Angeles, CA, Paintings Blackman's Art Gallery Haight/Buchannan Street San Francisco, CA, Group Show – *Paintings Sun Gallery San Francisco, CA, |
| 1970s | Paintings and Woodcuts San Francisco College For Women, San Francisco, CA |
| 1970s | Paintings Richmond Art Center Richmond, CA |