From his early self-portraits to his site-specific installations, this volume underscores Rashid Johnson's fearless engagement with the central themes, questions and aesthetics of the contemporary era
Co-organized by the Guggenheim New York and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, A Poem for Deep Thinkers is a three-decade survey of Rashid Johnson's artistic career. It situates the artist within three interconnected spheres: as a scholar of art history; as a mediator of Black popular culture and its widespread commodification; and as an artist engaged with the globalization of contemporary art. The exhibition and accompanying catalog feature nearly 90 artworks, including early photographs, Cosmic Slops, spray-painted text works, collage paintings, Broken Men mosaics, film projects, and key sculptures and installations that incorporate materials such as shea butter, black soap, plants, ceramic vessels and wax. These explorations demonstrate Johnson's uncommon fluency with multiple materials and forms as well as a nuanced ability to synthesize the condition of the human psyche.
Lavishly produced with gold block edges and illustrated with more than 200 images, the publication offers creative meditations on excerpts by literary icons Toni Morrison, Gwendolyn Brooks, Jean Genet, Paul Beatty and Amiri Baraka, interspersed among insightful essays and an interview that further illuminate Johnson's work.
Born and raised in Chicago, Rashid Johnson (born 1977) received fine arts degrees from Columbia College Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. At the age of 24, his work was included in Thelma Golden's 2001 exhibition Freestyle at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Johnson made his directorial debut with his 2019 adaptation of Richard Wright's Native Son.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
The artist's sprawling survey at the Guggenheim reveals an intellect unfolding and a life under way. -- Vinson Cunningham * The New Yorker * Intellectual engagement with the ways and means of being Black is obviously a deep issue for [Rashid Johnson]. -- Seph Rodney * Hyperallergic * [The] Chicago-born artist has an omnivorous intellect, one that he proudly displays in this presentation of nearly 90 works from his three-decade career. -- Brian P. Kelly * The Wall Street Journal * [An] insightful show that certainly hits the mark. -- Alex Greenberger * ArtNews * [The] show's installation in the Guggenheim's rotunda offers a fascinating view into Johnson's mind. The magic of Frank Lloyd Wright's genius design is its constant sense of surprise-an effect redoubled by the work of an artist like Johnson, who moves so fluidly between media. Spray-painted text canvases, sculptural installations incorporating black soap and shea butter-grooming products closely connected to the African diasporic community-and videos unfold around every corner, illustrating the breadth of Johnson's practice, both conceptually and materially. -- Stephanie Sporn * Vogue * Through an ever-expanding oeuvre of short films, collages, and multimedia painting, Rashid Johnson has considered Blackness, culture, and the making of art history for nearly three decades. This mid-career survey displays his body of work in the Guggenheim's rotunda, from a sculptural stage for performances on the ground floor to a site-specific work on the top. -- Natalie Haddad * Hyperallergic * [The] largest and most ambitious exhibition of his career to date. -- Calvin Tomkins * The New Yorker *
Sprache
Verlagsort
Produkt-Hinweis
Fadenheftung
Gewebe-Einband
Illustrationen
Maße
Höhe: 311 mm
Breite: 227 mm
Dicke: 29 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-89207-566-9 (9780892075669)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
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