Johnny Mercer Cool in Summer Shade Number 1

by Aberjhani

Title

Johnny Mercer Cool in Summer Shade Number 1

Artist

Aberjhani

Medium

Painting - Mixed Media Digital Painting

Description

This is the second of 3 Johnny Mercer prints by me designed, so far, for the collection here on FAA. The first is titled “Johnny Mercer's Grave in Bonaventure” and a link for it can be found at the end of this description. The third is called “Johnny Mercer Shining in Savannah Sunlight” and will be posted after this one. I’m still working on the second edition of this specific print.

A native of Savannah, Georgia (USA) the famous Academy-award winning composer Johnny Mercer lived from 1909-1976. The image seen here in silhouette is a life-sized bronze statue of Mercer leaning against a fire hydrant while reading a newspaper. (Details of the statue are more visible in “Johnny Mercer Shining in Savannah Sunlight.”) It is located at the western edge of Ellis Square in Savannah’s downtown historic district just before entering the famous City Market. The statue was created by sculptor Susie Chisholm and unveiled November 18, 2009, in celebration of Mercer’s 100th birthday. Since then, along with the site of Mercer’s grave in Bonaventure Cemetery further to the east, it has become a favorite site for many visitors to the city.

This impressionistic digital painting/photograph is part of the “Greeting Flannery O’Connor at the Back Door of My Mind” series because of Mercer’s connection to the film adaptation of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” (by John Berendt) discussed in Greeting Flannery. I went for the impressionism style because it seems to suit Mercer’s gift for translating personal experience into universal creative expression. The title of the image is only partly in reference to the overhanging branches of the nearby tree. It is also an allusion to the influence of jazz on much of Mercer’s music, as evidenced by the soundtrack for the Midnight movie, and by the cool demeanor which some attributed to him..

You can check out “Johnny Mercer's Grave in Bonaventure” here on FAA at: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/johnny-mercers-grave-in-bonaventure-cemetery-aberjhani.html

Aberjhani
Harlem Renaissance Centennial 2020
https://www.author-poet-aberjhani.info/

Uploaded

September 16th, 2020

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