
Rashid Johnson: Broken Crowd
-
August 9 2023 - December 2 2023
Curator: Orly Rabi
Designer: Lia Tomashof
-
Rena (Fisch) and Robert Lewin Gallery
Rashid Johnson, an influential voice in contemporary art, addresses the issue of African-American individual and collective identity in the twenty-first century. Three of his works, presented in the exhibition, employ expressive body language to convey the physical and psychological experience of Black people in a racist, discriminatory environment.
In the painting Cosmic Slop “Grease,” Johnson poured liquefied black soap mixed with wax on a board, making marks in the material before it solidified. The soap, originating in West Africa and used to treat sensitive skin, acts in Johnson's work as a kind of protective layer that symbolizes healing power. The vitality of the material and its spontaneous effusion echo the artist’s body movements while creating the painting, as in a performative dance.
The extroverted energy of the abstract action painting is also apparent in the facial expressions of the figures in the mosaic Untitled Broken Crowd. Rows of human beings, undifferentiated by race, sex, or nationality, emerge from the fragments of colored ceramic tiles, mirror, and wood. Their wide-open eyes and gaping mouths express anxiety, shock, or frustration with the human condition in the present day. They are witnesses to police brutality, violent political rhetoric, and the refugee crisis, or are protesters against these social ills.
Their figures, depicted in an abstract idiom, recall African masks, like those worn by the men in the video work The Hikers. Here, two Black dancers approach each other on a mountainside. As they meet, they pull off the anxious masks to reveal their faces, their intense convoluted movements becoming gestures of reciprocity and intimacy. The tension inherent in their motion illustrates the tremor accompanying the walk of the Black man as he becomes aware of the penetrating white gaze upon him.
The layers of paint on the wooden surface, the facial expressions and masks, and the skin protecting the body – all these depict the external covering and that which throbs beneath, the depths below the surface and the fear that’s been internalized.
A Conversation with Rashid Johnson
- Oct 01Oct 02Oct 03Oct 04Oct 05
- Sep 14Sep 18Sep 20Sep 21Sep 27Sep 28Oct 01Oct 02Oct 03Oct 04Oct 05Oct 09Oct 11Oct 12Oct 15Oct 16Oct 18Oct 19Oct 22Oct 23Oct 25Oct 26Oct 29Oct 30
- Oct 03Oct 10Oct 17Oct 24Oct 31
- Sep 28Oct 05Oct 12Oct 19Oct 26
- Sep 14Sep 18Sep 20Sep 21Sep 27Sep 28Oct 09Oct 11Oct 12Oct 15Oct 16Oct 18Oct 19Oct 22Oct 23Oct 25Oct 26Oct 29Oct 30
- Sep 14Sep 18Sep 21Sep 28Oct 09Oct 12Oct 15Oct 16Oct 19Oct 22Oct 23Oct 26Oct 29Oct 30
- Oct 10Oct 17Oct 24Oct 31
- Sep 19Sep 20Sep 26Sep 27Oct 10Oct 11Oct 17Oct 18Oct 24Oct 25Oct 31
- Gallery talks
Gallery Talk | The Rose and the Nightingale: Earthly and Divine Love in Late Persian ArtSep 26Oct 10Nov 01 - Oct 10
- Oct 11Dec 19
- Sep 14Sep 21Sep 28Oct 12Oct 19Oct 26
- Sep 14Sep 21Sep 28Oct 12Oct 19Oct 26
- Sep 14Sep 21Sep 28Oct 12Oct 19Oct 26