Rashid Johnson is an American conceptual post-black artist born in Chicago in 1977. He is a painter, photographer and sculptor whose work is known for combining natural and spiritual sciences to depict and augment black history. In his early career he used an innovative photo printing process that gave his prints a textured finish reminiscent of paint, a process that led the New York Times to describe his work as “spectacularly rich”.
Johnson studied a the Columbia College Chicago and the Art Institute of Chicago, where he graduated with as a Master of Fine Arts. He went on to teach art at the Pratt Institute in new York City. Rashid Johnson’s work resonates with cultural and societal norms through the context of the black experience. His work depicts concepts of race using the symbolism of coded references and contradictions.
His first solo exhibition took place in 2012 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. The exhibition was a collection of his work over the previous ten years. In the same year he was a Hugo Boss prize finalist, an international competition that celebrates artists. His work is on display in some of the world’s most esteemed institutions and he is represented by art dealers in Milan, Naples, New York City and Chicago.
