Rashid Johnson (born 1977) is an American artist who produces
conceptual post-black art Post-black art is a category of contemporary African American art. It is a paradoxical genre of art where race and racism are intertwined in a way that rejects their interaction. I.e., it is art about the black experience that attempts to dispel th ...
.
Johnson first received critical attention in 2001 at the age of 24, when his work was included in ''
Freestyle
Freestyle may refer to:
Brands
* Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe
* Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile
* Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine
* Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories
Media
* '' FreeStyle'', ...
'' (2001)
curated by
Thelma Golden
Thelma Golden (born September 22, 1965) is an American art curator, who is the Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City, United States. She is noted as one of the originators of the term post-blackness. From 20 ...
at the Studio Museum in Harlem.
He studied at
Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1890, it has 6,493 students (as of fall 2021) pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It i ...
and the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...
and his work has been exhibited around the world.
Johnson is known for several bodies of work in different media, including photography and painting. In addition to photography, Johnson makes audio installations, video, and sculpture. Johnson is known for both his unusual artistic productions and for his process of combining various aspects of science with
black history.
Early life
Johnson was born in Illinois to an academic and scholar mother,
Cheryl Johnson-Odim,
and a Vietnam-war veteran father, Jimmy Johnson, who was an artist but worked in electronics. His parents divorced when he was 2 years old
and his mother remarried a man of
Nigerian
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...
descent.
Johnson has stated that growing up his family was based in
afrocentrism
Afrocentrism is a worldview that is centered on the history of people of African descent or a view that favors it over non-African civilizations. It is in some respects a response to Eurocentric attitudes about African people and their hist ...
and that his family celebrated
Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa () is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called ''Karamu'', usually on the sixth day. It was created by activist Maulana Karenga based on African harvest fe ...
.
Johnson was raised in the
Wicker Park neighborhood of
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...
, a suburb.
A
photography
Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...
major,
he earned a 2000
Bachelor of Fine Arts
A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA).
Background ...
from
Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1890, it has 6,493 students (as of fall 2021) pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It i ...
and a 2005
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.)
is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...
from the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...
.
While at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, one of his mentors was
Gregg Bordowitz
Gregg Bordowitz (born August 14, 1964) is a writer, artist, and activist who worked as a professor in the Video, New Media, and Animation department at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. H ...
.
Johnson followed a generation of black artists who focused on the "black experience" and grew up in a generation that was influenced by
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
and
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...
. Because of his generation's high exposure to black culture within
pop culture
Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...
, his contemporary audiences have a greater understanding of the "black experience," which has enabled him to achieve a deeper race and identity interaction.
[
His work has been exhibited at the ]Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
; the Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
, New York; the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, New York; the Detroit Institute of Arts
The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is a museum institution located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It has list of largest art museums, one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it cove ...
; the Walker Art Center
The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...
, Minneapolis; the Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington, DC; the Institute of Contemporary Photography, New York; the Brooklyn Museum of Art
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
, New York; the Rubell Museum
The Rubell Museum, formerly the Rubell Family Collection, is a private Contemporary art, contemporary art museum with locations in the Allapattah neighborhood of Miami, Miami, Florida, and the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood of Washington, D.C ...
, Miami, FL; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art art gallery, museum near Water Tower Place in the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is on ...
.[
]
Career
Early career
As a college junior, he opened his first show at the Schneider Gallery.[ By 2000, he had earned a reputation for his unique photo-printing process and political content.][ The ''Freestyle'' exhibition at the Studio Museum in 2001 is credited with launching Johnson's career. The curator of the show, Thelma Golden, is credited with coining the term "post-black art" in relation to that exhibit, although some suggest the term is attributable to the 1995 book ''The End of Blackness'' by ]Debra Dickerson
Debra J. Dickerson (born 1959) is an American author, editor, writer, and contributing writer and blogger for '' Mother Jones'' magazine. Dickerson has been most prolific as an essayist, writing on race relations and racial identity in the United ...
, who is a favorite of Johnson's. The term post-black now refers to art in which race and racism are prominent, but where the importance of the interaction of the two is diminished.
Johnson's most controversial exhibition was entitled ''Chickenbones and Watermelon Seeds: The African American Experience as Abstract Art''. The subject matter was a series of stereotypical African-American food culture items such as watermelon
The watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, that has a large, edible fruit. It is a Glossary of botanical terms#scandent, scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, and is plant breeding ...
seeds, black-eyed peas
The black-eyed pea or black-eyed bean is a legume grown around the world for its medium-sized, edible bean. It is a subspecies of the cowpea, an Old World plant domesticated in Africa, and is sometimes simply called a cowpea.
The common comme ...
, chicken bones, and cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
seeds placed directly onto photographic paper and exposed to light using an iron-reactive process.
In 2002, he exhibited at the Sunrise Museum in Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...
. The exhibit, entitled ''Manumission Papers'', was named for the papers that freed slaves were required to keep to prove their freedom. The exhibition was described as being as much a cultural commentary as an imagery display, and it related to the previous "Chickenbones" exhibit. He geometrically arranged abstraction
Abstraction is a process where general rules and concepts are derived from the use and classifying of specific examples, literal (reality, real or Abstract and concrete, concrete) signifiers, first principles, or other methods.
"An abstraction" ...
s of feet, hands, and elbows in shapes such as cubes, church windows and ships. This was considered as a study in racial identity because the body parts were not identifiable.[ Also in 2002, presenting his photographic work using chicken bones, Johnson exhibited at the ]Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art art gallery, museum near Water Tower Place in the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is on ...
, as part of the ''UBS 12 x 12: New Artists, New Work'' series.
In 2002 he exhibited his homeless men in the Diggs Gallery of Winston-Salem State University
Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) is a historically black public university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system.
History
Winston-Salem State University was founded as "Slater Industrial A ...
. The exhibit was entitled ''Seeing in the Dark'' and used partially illuminated subjects against deep black backgrounds. He also exhibited his homeless men work, including ''George'' (1999), in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
as part of the National Black Arts Festival
The National Black Arts Festival (NBAF) is an organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, founded in 1987. It was originally a one-week long summer festival which was held biennially starting in 1998.
It was started after the Fulton County Arts Counc ...
at City Gallery East in July and August 2002. ''George'' was part of the Corcoran Gallery of Art November 2004 – January 2005 ''Common Ground: Discovering Community in 150 Years of Art, Selections From the Collection of Julia J. Norrell'' exhibition. ''George'' and the ''Common Ground'' exhibition appeared in several other places including the North Carolina Museum of Art
The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) is an art museum in Raleigh, North Carolina. It opened in 1956 as the first major museum collection in the country to be formed by state legislation and funding. Since the initial 1947 appropriation that ...
in 2006.
He took part in the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs artist Open Studio Program rotation in the Chicago Landmark
Chicago Landmark is a designation by the Mayor and the City Council of Chicago for historic sites in Chicago, Illinois. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artist ...
/National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
Page Brothers Building
The north facade facing Lake Street of the Page Brothers Building, 177-91 North State Street in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States, features the city's last remaining cast iron front. Although this ex ...
during the summer of 2003 with a three-week exhibition. He explored the "historical and contemporary nature of photography". At that time, he was represented by George N'Namdi, who owned G.R. N'Namdi, the oldest African-American-owned, exhibiting commercial gallery in the country.
In conjunction with the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
, Rashid Johnson exhibited ''The Evolution of the Negro Political Costume'' in December 2004. He presented replicas of three outfits worn by African-American politicians. He included a late 1960s dashiki
The dashiki (, ) is a colorful garment that covers the top half of the body, worn mostly in West Africa. It has formal and informal versions and varies from simple draped clothing to fully tailored suits. A common form is a loose-fitting pullove ...
worn by Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson (Birth name#Maiden and married names, né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American Civil rights movements, civil rights activist, Politics of the United States, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. Beginning as a ...
, a 1980s running suit worn by Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights and social justice activist, Baptists, Baptist minister, radio talk show host, and TV personality, who is also the founder of the National Action Network civil rig ...
in the '80s and a business suit
A suit, also called a lounge suit, business suit, dress suit, or formal suit, is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles generally worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit ...
worn by then United States Senator
The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress.
Party affiliation
Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...
-elect Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
. The presentation, which invited inspection, was as likely to evoke a humorous response to the Jackson dashiki as well as critical commentary about the presentation of political attire.
Johnson explored the theme of escapism at the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art
Indianapolis Contemporary, formerly known as the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art or iMOCA, was a museum of contemporary art in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. In 2020, the gallery's board voted to begin closing down operations, a result of ...
in a show entitled ''The Production of Escapism: A Solo Project by Rashid Johnson''. He addressed distraction and relief from reality through art and fantasy. Johnson used photos, video and site-specific installation to study escapist tendencies through often with a sense of humor that bordered on the absurd.
Post-graduate career
During the summer of 2005, he took part in a Chicago Cultural Center
The Chicago Cultural Center, opened in 1897, is a Chicago Landmark building operated by Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. The Cultural Center houses the city's official reception venue, where the Mayor of Chicago, M ...
artist exchange program exhibition featuring five emerging Chicago contemporary art
Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...
ists and five from Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...
, Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
. Half of the ten were women (four from Taiwan). As part of the ''Crossings'' exhibition almost all artists had their first chance to exhibit in the country of the others. In this forum, ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' art critic
An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...
Alan G. Artner said Johnson's audio selection imposed his artistry on all the other exhibits since he chose a rap
Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...
song combined with a blunt video. Artner became a Johnson detractor in 2005 when Johnson had this and another simultaneous exhibit appearing in Chicago. He described Johnson's exploration of the politics of race as "sloganeering or cute self-advertising" in his two-dimensional works, and his apolitical three-dimensional installations as "glib and superficial" representations. He classified Johnson's work as more suitable for the audience seeking nothing more than American pop culture
Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...
. Artner also derided Johnson's short video contribution to the Art Institute of Chicago's ''Fool's Paradise'' exhibition as a "conflation of gospel singing
Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compos ...
with beat boxing
Beatboxing (also, and sometimes, called beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (usually a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice. ... that says nothing worth saying about race." Other Chicago critics describe Johnson's subsequent work as relatively hip.
The following year, after obtaining his master's degree, he moved to the Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...
in New York City,[ where he taught at the ]Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...
. Although he is generally referred to as a photographer and sometimes referred to as a sculptor, in certain contexts, he has been referred to as an artist-magician.
In an ensemble 2006 showing entitled ''Scarecrow'', Johnson exhibited a life-sized photographic nude self-portrait
Self-portraits are Portrait painting, portraits artists make of themselves. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, the practice of self-portraiture only gaining momentum in the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century ...
that was supposed to be menacing and abrasive, but that was perceived as interesting and amusing. His Summer 2007 "Stay Black and Die" work in ''The Color Line'' exhibition at the Jack Shainman Gallery left one art critic
An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...
from ''The New York Times'' wondering whether he was viewing a warning or exhortation. However, at the same time he participated in the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art's ''For Love of the Game: Race and Sport in America'' exhibition that seemed to clearly address manners in which questions about race have been asked and answered on American sports fields of play.
As a post-black artist, his mixed-media work, such as his Spring 2008 exhibition ''The Dead Lecturer'', plays on race while diminishing its significance by playing with contradictions, coded references and allusions (E.g., ''The New Negro Escapist Social and Athletic Club (Emmett)'', right). The exhibit was described as "a fictional secret society
A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ag ...
of African-American intellectuals, a cross between Mensa and the Mason
Mason may refer to:
Occupations
* Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a worker who lays bricks to assist in brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces
* Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutti ...
s" that was a challenge to either condemn or endorse.
Rise to prominence
In November 2011, Johnson was named one of six finalists for the Hugo Boss Prize The Hugo Boss Prize was an award given every other year to an artist (or group of artists) working in any medium, anywhere in the world. Upon its establishment in 1996, it distinguished itself from other art awards because it has no restrictions on ...
. In 2012, mega-gallery Hauser & Wirth
Hauser & Wirth is a Swiss contemporary and modern art gallery.
History
Hauser & Wirth was founded in 1992 in Zurich by Iwan Wirth, Manuela Wirth, and Ursula Hauser, who were joined in 2000 by co-president Marc Payot. In 2020, Ewan Venters was ap ...
announced their first solo exhibition with Johnson at their Upper East Side location in New York.
In April 2012, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art art gallery, museum near Water Tower Place in the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is on ...
, presented Johnson's first major museum solo exhibition in the US, titled ''Message to Our Folks''. MCA Pamela Alper Associate Curator Julie Rodrigues Widholm curated the exhibition in close collaboration with the artist. The exhibition was a survey of the previous ten years of the artist's work. Additionally, a new work commissioned by the MCA was shown for the first time. The exhibition subsequently travelled to the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum
The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum is an art museum located on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis, within the university's Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. Founded in 1881 as the St. Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts, i ...
in St. Louis, and the High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art (colloquially the High) is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia (on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district), the High is 312,000 square feet (28, ...
in Atlanta. The Perez Art Museum Miami acquired the two-dimensional piece ''Tribe'', produced right after the MCA show was open, in 2013.
In 2013, Johnson was one of the commissioned artists for the Performa Biennial.
In 2021, the Metropolitan Opera in New York City unveiled ''The Broken Nine,'' Johnson's two-panel mosaic, ceramic, and branded wood work commissioned for the Opera's interior grand tier landings. The same year, Johnson's works were added to the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
. He also began serving on the boards of Performa, Ballroom Marfa, and the Guggenheim Museum
The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.
Museums in this group include:
* The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Ne ...
.
In 2022, Johnson's ''Surrender Painting "Sunshine"'' (2022) sold for $3 million, a record for the artist at auction.
At Bonhams
Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought t ...
Post-War and Contemporary Art Sale in London of June 2022, Johnson's wax and spray enamel work "''Carver"'', (2012) sold for £264,900.
Throughout that latter 2010s, Johnson addressed the idea of mental health in multiple series of works, namely ''Anxious Men and Anxious Audiences'' and ''Broken Men''.
Film career
Johnson made his directorial debut with ''Native Son
Native may refer to:
People
* '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood
* '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Nat ...
,'' a film adaptation of Richard Wright's acclaimed 1940 novel
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
of the same name. It was announced in 2018 that Johnson had tapped playwright Suzan Lori-Parks to adapt the novel into a screenplay, and cast Ashton Sanders in the lead role of Bigger Thomas. The film was produced by A24
A24 Films LLC, commonly referred to as A24, is an American Privately held company, independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. The studio is based in Manhattan.
The company ...
and premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January 2019. HBO Films acquired the movie hours before its premiere. Critical reception of the film was mixed. Richard Roeper gave the film a rating of 3/4 stars, and noted the actors' "electric" performances. Troy Patterson wrote in the ''New Yorker'' that the film suffered from "intelligent grappling with a classic text" that is ultimately "obsolete". Jennifer Vineyard wrote in the ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' that the movie "isn't a masterpiece" but "has much to admire", citing its "striking visual compositions", "tense atmosphere", and "Sanders' nuanced performance". Review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
gives the film a score of 61%, based on reviews from 51 critics, and an average rating of 6.10/10, with the general consensus stated as follows: "''Native Son'''s struggles with its problematic source material are uneven but overall compelling, thanks largely to Ashton Sanders' poised work in the central role." Johnson won "Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture (Television)" at the 51st NAACP Image Awards
The 51st NAACP Image Awards, presented by the NAACP, honored outstanding representations and achievements of people of color in motion pictures, television, music, and literature during the 2019 calendar year. The ceremony took place on February ...
for his work on ''Native Son.''
Techniques and processes
Johnson uses "alchemy, divination, astronomy, and other sciences that combine the natural and spiritual worlds" to augment black history. According to a Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1890, it has 6,493 students (as of fall 2021) pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It i ...
publication, Johnson works in a variety of media with physical and visual materials that have independent artistic significance and symbolism but that are augmented by their connections to black history.[ According to the culture publication Flavorpill, he challenges his viewers with photography and sculpture that present the creation and dissemination of norms and expectations.][ However, the ''Chicago Tribune'' describes the productions resulting from his processes as lacking complexity or depth.][ '']Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States.
Th ...
'' writer Regina Hackett described Johnson as an artist who avoids the struggles of black people and explores their strengths, while inserting himself as subject in his "aesthetic aspirations" through a variety of forums.[
Johnson has garnered national attention for both his unusual subject matter and for his process.][ In addition to portrait photography, Johnson is known for his use of a 19th-century process][ that uses Van Dyke brown, a transparent organic ]pigment
A pigment is a powder used to add or alter color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly solubility, insoluble and reactivity (chemistry), chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored sub ...
, and exposure to sunlight. He achieves a painterly
Painterliness is a concept based on ' ('painterly'), a word popularized by Swiss art historian Heinrich Wölfflin (1864–1945) to help focus, enrich and standardize the terms being used by art historians of his time to characterize Work of ...
feel with his prints with the application of pigment using broad brush strokes.[ He uses a ]Deardorff L.F. Deardorff & Sons Inc. was a manufacturer of wooden-construction, large-format 4"x5" and larger bellows view camera from 1923 through 1988. They were used by professional photographic studios.
Company history
Laban F. Deardorff repaired camer ...
, which forces him to interact with his subjects.
His use of shea butter and tiles in his, respective, sculptural and mosaic work have significant meaning to Johnson. The former being a "signifier of African identity," whereas the latter have a more personal connection for him. As a student, a Russian and Turkish Bathouse became a place of refuge, with him viewing the white tiles as a canvas. He would even take his college assigned-reading in there with him.
Other activities
Johnson served on the jury that selected Otobong Nkanga
Otobong Nkanga (born 1974) is a Nigerian-born visual artist, tapestry maker and performance artist, based in Antwerp, Belgium. In 2015, she won the Yanghyun Prize.
In her work she explores the social and topographical changes of her environmen ...
for the Nasher Prize in 2024.
Personal life
Johnson is married to artist Sheree Hovsepian. They live in New York City and have a son.
Awards
* 2012: David C. Driskell Prize
Exhibitions
Johnson has staged numerous solo shows at museums and galleries in the United States and internationally. His notable solo shows include ''The Rise and Fall of the Proper Negro'' (2003), Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
; ''The Production of Escapism'' (2005), Indianapolis Contemporary
Indianapolis Contemporary, formerly known as the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art or iMOCA, was a museum of contemporary art in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. In 2020, the gallery's board voted to begin closing down operations, a result of ...
; ''Smoke and Mirrors'' (2009), SculptureCenter
SculptureCenter is a not-for-profit, contemporary art museum located in Long Island City, Queens, New York City. It was founded in 1928 as "The Clay Club" by Dorothea Denslow. In 2013, SculptureCentre attracted around 13,000 visitors.Randy Kenned ...
, New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
; ''Rashid Johnson: Message to Our Folks'' (2012-2013), originating at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art art gallery, museum near Water Tower Place in the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is on ...
; ''The gathering'' (2013), Hauser & Wirth
Hauser & Wirth is a Swiss contemporary and modern art gallery.
History
Hauser & Wirth was founded in 1992 in Zurich by Iwan Wirth, Manuela Wirth, and Ursula Hauser, who were joined in 2000 by co-president Marc Payot. In 2020, Ewan Venters was ap ...
, Zurich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
; ''Anxious Men'' (2015), Drawing Center
The Drawing Center is a museum and a nonprofit exhibition space in Manhattan, New York City, that focuses on the exhibition of drawings, both historical and contemporary.
History
The Drawing Center was founded by former assistant curator of dr ...
, New York; ''Provocations: Rashid Johnson'' (2018), Institute for Contemporary Art, Richmond, Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
; and ''The Crisis'' (2021), Storm King Art Center
Storm King Art Center, commonly called Storm King and named for nearby Storm King Mountain, is an open-air museum in New Windsor, New York. It contains perhaps the largest collection of contemporary outdoor sculptures in the United States. F ...
, New Windsor, New York
New Windsor is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 27,805 at the 2020 census. It is located on the eastern side of the county and is adjacent to the Hudson River and the City of Newburgh.
History
The region wa ...
.
He has also participated in many group shows, including ''Freestyle
Freestyle may refer to:
Brands
* Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe
* Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile
* Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine
* Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories
Media
* '' FreeStyle'', ...
'' (2001), Studio Museum in Harlem
The Studio Museum in Harlem is an African-American art museum at 144 West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. Founded in 1968, the museum collects, preserves and interprets art created by African A ...
, New York; IBCA 2005, Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
; ''ILLUMInations'' (2011), 54th Venice Biennale
The 54th Venice Biennale was an international contemporary art exhibition held in 2011. The Venice Biennale takes place biennially in Venice, Italy. Artistic director Bice Curiger curated its central exhibition, "ILLUMInations".
Awards
* G ...
; Shanghai Biennale
The Shanghai Biennale is one of the highest-profile contemporary art events in Shanghai and the most established art biennale in China. It was initially held in the Shanghai Art Museum. From 2012 on, it has been hosted in Power Station of Art, th ...
(2012); ''Prospect. 4: The Lotus in Spite of the Swamp'' (2017), Prospect New Orleans
Prospect New Orleans is a multi-venue contemporary art event in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
Prospect.1
"Prospect.1 New Orleans" ran from November 2008 to January 2009. Conceived in the tradition of the international biennials, such as the Ven ...
; and the Liverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial is the largest international contemporary art festival in the United Kingdom.
Since its launch in 1998, Liverpool Biennial has commissioned over 380 new artworks and presented work by over 530 artists from around the world. ...
(2021).
Notable works in public collections
*''Michael'' (1998), Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
*''Calvin'' (1999), National Museum of African American History and Culture
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), colloquially known as the Blacksonian, is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in 2003 an ...
, Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
*''Jonathan'' (1999), Whitney Museum
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
, New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
*''Self-Portrait with my hair parted like Frederick Douglass'' (2003), Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art art gallery, museum near Water Tower Place in the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is on ...
*''The Evolution of the Negro Political Costume'' (2004), Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
, New York
*''Untitled'' (2007), Seattle Art Museum
The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The museum operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in ...
*''Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos'' (2008), Whitney Museum, New York
*''The New Negro Escapist Social and Athletic Club (Emmett)'' (2008), National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
, Washington, D.C.
*''The New Negro Escapist Social and Athletic Club (Thurgood)'' (2008), Rubell Museum
The Rubell Museum, formerly the Rubell Family Collection, is a private Contemporary art, contemporary art museum with locations in the Allapattah neighborhood of Miami, Miami, Florida, and the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood of Washington, D.C ...
, Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
; and Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa
Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) is a public non-profit museum in Cape Town, South Africa. Zeitz MOCAA opened on September 22, 2017 as the largest museum of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. The museum is locat ...
, Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
, South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
*''Thurgood in the Hour of Chaos'' (2009), Brooklyn Museum, New York; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF),
comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. FAMSF's combined attendance was 1,1 ...
; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States.
The academy's museum ...
, Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...
; and Whitney Museum, New York
*''The New Negro Escapist Social and Athletic Club (Marcus)'' (2010), Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
*''Our People, Kind of'' (2010), Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, New York
*''The Treatment'' (2010), Walker Art Center
The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...
, Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
*''The New Black Yoga'' (2011), Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Street (Manhattan), 89th Streets on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It hosts a permanent coll ...
, New York
*''River Crossing'' (2011), Detroit Institute of Arts
The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is a museum institution located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It has list of largest art museums, one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it cove ...
*''The Sweet Science'' (2011), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the supp ...
, Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, a city in the United States
* Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
*''Four for the Talking Cure'' (2012), Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum).
LACMA was founded in 1961 ...
*''Tribe'' (2013), Pérez Art Museum Miami
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)—officially known as the Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County—is a contemporary art museum that relocated in 2013 to the Maurice A. Ferré Park in Downtown Miami, Florida. Founded in 1984 as the Cent ...
*''Planet'' (2014), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
*''Fatherhood'' (2015), Baltimore Museum of Art
The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of modern art, ...
*''Untitled'' (2015), Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...
; and Whitney Museum, New York
*''Untitled Anxious Audience'' (2017), Milwaukee Art Museum
The Milwaukee Art Museum (also referred to as MAM) is an art museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its collection of over 34,000 works of art and gallery spaces totaling 150,000 sq. ft. (13,900 m²) make it the largest art museum in the state of Wis ...
*''Untitled (Anxious Crowd)'' (2018), Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Located in the Wade Park District of University Circle, the museum is internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian art, Asian and Art of anc ...
; Detroit Institute of Arts; and Whitney Museum, New York
*''Untitled Escape Collage'' (2018), Dallas Museum of Art
The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the A ...
*''The Broken Five'' (2019), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
*''Anxious Red Painting November 29th'' (2020), Art Institute of Chicago
*''Stacked Heads'' (2020), Storm King Art Center
Storm King Art Center, commonly called Storm King and named for nearby Storm King Mountain, is an open-air museum in New Windsor, New York. It contains perhaps the largest collection of contemporary outdoor sculptures in the United States. F ...
, New Windsor, New York
New Windsor is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 27,805 at the 2020 census. It is located on the eastern side of the county and is adjacent to the Hudson River and the City of Newburgh.
History
The region wa ...
*''The Bruising: For Jules, The Bird, Jack and Leni'' (2021), Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is a museum of American art in Bentonville, Arkansas. The museum, founded by Alice Walton and designed by Moshe Safdie, officially opened on 11 November 2011. It offers free public admission.
Overview ...
, Bentonville, Arkansas
Bentonville is a city in and the county seat of Benton County, Arkansas, United States. The city is centrally located in the county with Rogers, Arkansas, Rogers adjacent to the east. The city proper had a population of 54,164 at the 2020 Unite ...
*''Standing Broken Men'' (2021), Cleveland Museum of Art
*''Untitled Anxious Red'' (2021), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Bibliography
*Claudia Rankine
Claudia Rankine (; born September 4, 1963) is a Jamaican-American poet, essayist, playwright, and the editor of several anthologies. She is the author of five volumes of poetry, two plays and various essays.
Her book of poetry, '' Citizen: An A ...
, Sampada Aranke, Akili Tommasino, ''Rashid Johnson'', Phaidon Phaidon is an ancient Greek name that may refer to:
*Phaedo of Elis, philosopher
*''Phaedo'', one of Plato's dialogues named after Phaedo of Elis who appears in it
*Phaidon Press, a publisher
*'' Phaidon Design Classics'', a 2006 British three volum ...
, London, 2023
*Monica Davis, Claudia Schreier, ''Rashid Johnson: The Hikers'', Hauser & Wirth
Hauser & Wirth is a Swiss contemporary and modern art gallery.
History
Hauser & Wirth was founded in 1992 in Zurich by Iwan Wirth, Manuela Wirth, and Ursula Hauser, who were joined in 2000 by co-president Marc Payot. In 2020, Ewan Venters was ap ...
, Aspen, 2021
*Ruth Addison, Kate Fowle, Anton Belov, ''Rashid Johnson'', Garage Museum of Contemporary Art
The Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, also referred to simply as ''The Garage Museum'', is a privately funded art gallery in Moscow, Russia. It was founded by Dasha Zhukova and Roman Abramovich as the ''Garage Center for Contemporary Culture'' ...
, Moscow, 2016
*Julie Rodrigues Widholm, Paul Beatty
Paul Beatty (born June 9, 1962) is an American author and professor of writing at Columbia University.[Madeleine Grynsztejn
Madeleine Grynsztejn (born 1962) is the Pritzker Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Grynsztejn became director in 2008.
Life and education
Grynsztejn was born in Lima, Peru, and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, and London, Englan ...](_blank)
, ''Rashid Johnson: Message to Our Folks'', Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to:
Africa
* Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi
Asia East Asia
* Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai ...
, Chicago, 2012
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Rashid
1977 births
African-American contemporary artists
American contemporary artists
American photographers
African-American film directors
Columbia College Chicago alumni
American conceptual artists
Living people
Artists from Chicago
Artists from Evanston, Illinois
School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni
Film directors from Illinois
Sculptors from Illinois
African-American sculptors
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American people