Rashid Johnson (b. 1977, Chicago) investigates and creates new languages. He assembles various materials—record albums, wood, mirror, shea butter, black soap and wax—to create works that range from conceptual photography to painting to sculptural installations. Deeply engaged with materials and form, Johnson explores themes of history and yearning while examining the relationship between art and society, as well as racial, cultural, and personal identity.
Johnson is working on an upcoming project at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford featuring his new blue and white “Seascape” imagery that will crown two main treatment rooms of the Gastroenterology department. Additionally, his kaleidoscopic “Escape” imagery will be installed in two mother and family waiting rooms.
Recent solo exhibitions were held at Hauser & Wirth, Menorca, Spain (2022); Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, NY (2021); Hauser & Wirth, London (2020); Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2019); Aspen Art Museum, Colorado (2019); Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City (2017); The Drawing Center, New York (2015); Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver (2014); High Museum of Art, Atlanta (2013), and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2012). Johnson’s work is held in public collections, including High Art Museum; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, where he serves on the Board of Trustees. Johnson lives and works in New York City.