NEW YORK
Christian Kosmas Mayer
The Life Story of Cornelius Johnson’s Olympic Oak and Other Matters of Survival
The Nazi regime awarded “Olympic Oaks” to every gold medal winner at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, including high jump athlete Cornelius Cooper Johnson, who competed under the U.S. American flag. Christian Kosmas Mayer has made the fate of the tree and its owner the subject of this work. Both Hitler and Roosevelt shied away from meeting the African-American gold medal winner. The athlete ended up planting the seedling in the backyard of his home in what is now Koreatown, one of the most colourful and multicultural neighbourhoods in Los Angeles. The multi-faceted history of the tree is part of the artist’s multimedia installation, which also campaigned for the tree and house to be declared a “Historic Cultural Monument”.
Exhibition view The Life Story of Cornelius Johnson's Olympic Oak and Other Matters of Survival, Austrian Cultural Forum New York, 2022
Photo: Austrian Cultural Forum New York
Exhibition view The Life Story of Cornelius Johnson's Olympic Oak and Other Matters of Survival, Austrian Cultural Forum New York, 2022
Photo: Austrian Cultural Forum New York
Exhibition view The Life Story of Cornelius Johnson's Olympic Oak and Other Matters of Survival, Austrian Cultural Forum New York, 2022
Photo: Austrian Cultural Forum New York
Exhibition view The Life Story of Cornelius Johnson's Olympic Oak and Other Matters of Survival, Austrian Cultural Forum New York, 2022
Photo: Austrian Cultural Forum New York
Opening, The Life Story of Cornelius Johnson's Olympic Oak and Other Matters of Survival, Austrian Cultural Forum New York, 2022
Photo: Austrian Cultural Forum New York
Opening, The Life Story of Cornelius Johnson's Olympic Oak and Other Matters of Survival, Austrian Cultural Forum New York, 2022
Photo: Austrian Cultural Forum New York
Opening, The Life Story of Cornelius Johnson's Olympic Oak and Other Matters of Survival, Austrian Cultural Forum New York, 2022
Photo: Austrian Cultural Forum New York
