David Johnson
born 1945, Crockett County, TN, lives in Memphis
Calvary parishioner
Cords of Love
2025
suspended fabric roping
AIDS Sculpture
1989
suspended fabric
Inspired by the message of Calvary’s first HIV/AIDS Healing Service, Memphis artist and Calvary parishioner, David Johnson, created a fabric sculpture in 1989. Each opening in the fabric represents someone living with AIDS, someone whose life was taken by AIDS, or someone affected by AIDS. This sculpture typically hangs in Calvary’s nave from All Saints Day through World AIDS Day.
In his 2025 piece, Cords, David Johnson explores how unity in community makes us stronger. Cords, 2025, is a series of brightly colored cords hung in groups from crescents that enliven the atrium of The Commons. While sitting in Mimsy Jones and Katherine Bush’s Sunday School class, focused upon the colors of the Dorothy Sturm windows, Johnson heard this passage from Hosea: “I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love.” That passage gave credence to his vision of colors floating beneath the skylights. The cords – floating separately – gather and form one group at eye level. Johnson says, “I call ‘Cords of Love’ an installation honoring all people’s search for the spirit of inclusion.”
