Soulful Movement: Vinyasa Flow Journey with Lauren J. Williams

Join yoga guide Lauren J. Williams for an invigorating Vinyasa class at PLAYGROUND DETROIT.

In alignment with the exhibition on view by FIFTY, Me as the Machine, this class will be playful, vibrant, and encourage attendees to find a vigorous yoga flow.All levels are welcome. Come prepared to breathe, build heat, and ignite your internal fire. This class will celebrate movement, community, and soulful connection.This is the last day to view artwork on display by Paul “FIFTY” Johnson. His exhibition explores themes of identity, color, and representation, shaped by his experiences as a Black artist.The exhibition is on view by-appointment through Saturday, August 23.

RSVP to attend. Capacity is limited.

Bring your own yoga mat.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Lauren J. Williams is a yoga guide and professional ice skater with over a decade of experience who is passionate about social justice, inspiring creativity, and healing. She has spent years practicing yoga instruction in the Detroit community throughout various recreation centers, studios, and college campuses.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

“Me as the Machine” is about what it means to create by hand in a time when everything feels automated or mass-produced. I’ve been thinking a lot about tools — the ones we rely on, and the ones we become. In this show, I’m exploring what happens when I turn myself into the machine.Through embroidered works on raw canvas and painted surfaces, he teases out the tension between tool and touch, labor and vision.

His signature approach — vivid color layered against stark black and white — creates visual rhythm and emotional contrast, blurring the line between textile and illustration.“Me as the Machine” is a reflection on what it means to make art in a time of automation and anxiety — where machines are faster, and complacency feels dangerously close.

In this show, Paul Johnson, aka "FIFTY," positions himself as the machine: the motor, the muscle, the mind behind each stitch.This exhibition asks viewers to slow down. To feel texture. To witness a process that resists reproduction — art that must be experienced in person to be fully understood.

"Using a hand-cranked embroidery machine, I made each piece by guiding the thread like a pen — drawing with stitches. Some works are just embroidery on raw canvas, and others combine paint and thread to play with depth, color, and contrast. A lot of the pieces separate color from black and white, like they’re having a conversation with each other.”

- Paul Johnson

This show is textured, layered, and best experienced in person. It’s about slowing down and seeing how something gets made — one movement at a time.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Paul “Fifty” Johnson’s (@_ffty) explores identity, color, and representation, shaped by his experiences as a Black artist. Blending street art, fashion, and contemporary aesthetics, his work often centers powerful female figures, inspired by his connection to femininity.

His latest evolution begins with loose, gestural sketches—linear marks like abstract sentences—built into complex forms through the inversion and contrast of a single color.This focus on monochrome invites a deeper emotional reading, uncovering dimension, texture, and relief without relying on multiple tones. By reducing his palette, Johnson pushes minimalism as a tool for meaning, exploring how his identity can change through restrained expression.

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