Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers
Born in Chicago in 1977, Rashid Johnson is among an influential cadre of contemporary American artists whose work employs a wide range of media to explore themes of art history, individual and shared cultural identities, personal narratives, literature, philosophy, materiality, and critical history. Johnson received a BA in Photography from Columbia College in Chicago and studied for his masters at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Johnson’s practice quickly expanded to embrace a wide range of media—including sculpture, painting, drawing, film making, and installation—yielding a complex multidisciplinary practice that incorporates diverse materials rich with symbolism and personal history. Johnsons work is known for its narrative embedding of a pointed range of everyday materials and objects, often associated with his childhood and frequently referencing aspects of history and cultural identity. Many of Johnson’s more recent works delve into existential themes such as personal and collective anxiety, interiority, and liminal space.
For nearly 30 years, artist Rashid Johnson has cultivated a diverse body of work that draws upon an array of disciplines such as history, philosophy, literature, and music. This major solo exhibition highlights Johnson’s role as a scholar of art history, a mediator of Black popular culture, and as a creative force in contemporary art.
Almost 90 works—from black-soap paintings and spray-painted text works to large-scale sculptures, film, and video—will fill the museum’s rotunda, including Sanguine, a monumental site-specific work on the building’s top ramp with an embedded piano for musical performances. Additionally, a dynamic program of events, developed in collaboration with community partners across New York City, will activate a sculptural stage on the rotunda floor.
The exhibition is organized by Naomi Beckwith, the Guggenheim’s Deputy Director and Jennifer and David Stockman Chief Curator, and Andrea Karnes, Chief Curator, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas, with additional support from Faith Hunter, Guggenheim Curatorial Assistant.
Lead support for Rashid Johnson, A Poem for Deep Thinkers is provided by the Ford Foundation
Major support is provided by Neuberger Berman
