ART CITIES: N.York-Rashid Johnson 

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’s practice embraces 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.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Guggenheim Museum Archive

Encompassing the entirety of the  Guggenheim Museum’s rotunda “A Poem for Deep Thinkers”, is Rashid Johnson’s first solo presentation at the Guggenheim, his largest exhibition to date, and the first expansive museum survey of his work in over a decade. the exhibition  brings together more than ninety artworks, including an outdoor sculpture and new pieces made specifically for the exhibition—two of which will be activated through ongoing performances. The survey spans pivotal phases of Johnson’s career, including notable series such as “The New Negro Escapist Social” and “Athletic Club”, “Cosmic Slops”, black-soap shelf paintings, spray- painted text works, the more recent “Anxious Men” and “Broken Men” series, and large-scale indoor and outdoor sculptures. The exhibition offers a loose chronology of Johnson’s artistic evolution across nearly three decades, traversing cycles of social alienation, self-examination, and artistic freedom. Beginning with his early explorations in photography, video, and installations, and extending to his recent ventures into materially hybrid paintings and assemblages, Johnson brings nuance to exploring the human psyche amid the profound historical influences of our time, all while reflecting on themes of masculinity, parenthood, and care for self and others. As visitors approach the exhibition, they are met by Johnson’s outdoor sculpture, “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos” (2008), a large steel sculpture with graphic design–inspired trim lines and gun-scope references that brings forth Jasper Johns’s target works. Directly influenced by hip- hop pioneer Public Enemy, the piece invites the viewer to question who is in control. Inside the museum, the rotunda floor features “Untitled” (2025), a new mosaic work made especially for the Guggenheim exhibition, along with “Rotunda Stage” (2025), an interactive space for performances. As visitors proceed up the first ramp, they are greeted by Johnson’s photograph “Self-Portrait Laying on Jack Johnson’s Grave” (2006), an early work that explores cultural lineages, connecting the artist’s last name and Chicago roots (where the grave site is located) with the first Black heavyweight boxer whose victory over a white fighter in 1910 triggered race riots. The High Gallery features a miniature survey of Johnson’s career, showing a range of early and recent pieces, including sculptures, paintings, a mosaic, and a spray-painted text work. On Rotunda Levels 1 and 2, visitors have the opportunity to learn about Johnson’s emergence on the art scene, beginning with a series of photographs he took in his early twenties that helped launch his career when he became the youngest artist featured in Thelma Golden’s seminal 2001 exhibition “Freestyle” at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Viewers also encounter Johnson’s early work in sculpture, installation, text, and video, which remains an abiding medium for the artist. Progressing through the exhibition, visitors  will discover more of Johnson’s mixed media pieces. Rotunda Levels 3 and 4 continue an exploration of video works including “Black Yoga” (2010) and “The New Black Yoga” (2011). This segment also introduces Johnson’s breakthrough ‘Cosmic Slop”  painting series (2008), made of black soap and wax, underscoring Johnson’s investment in materials as cultural signifiers. Rotunda Level 5 showcases Johnson’s sculptures, such as his “Untitled Bust: series composed of heavily worked glazed stoneware. This ramp also contains mosaics and collages, as well as later paintings such as Anxious Red Painting “August 18th” (2020).  At the top of the museum, Rotunda Level 6 features the monumental installation “Sanguine”, a large, gridded steel structure consisting of plants, books, and a piano that supports a series of cascading plants that seem to float in mid-air. In dialogue with the performance and public- engagement program, “Sanguine’s” piano will be activated every Friday and Sunday. Toward the end of this ramp is a monitor presenting Johnson’s most recent films, including a 2024 film also called “Sanguine”, which focus on relationship with the maternal and paternal sides of his family. Closing the exhibition is a never-before-seen 2025 painting hung in a contemplative area where viewers are encouraged to engage with the art in self-directed reflection.

Photo: Rashid Johnson, A Poem for Deep Thinkers, Installation view Guggenheim Museum-New York, 2025, Courtesy the artist and Guggenheim Museum

Info: Curators: Naomi Beckwith  and Andrea Karnes, Assistant Curator:  Faith Hunter,  Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, USA, Duration: 18/4/2025-18/1/2026, Days & Hours: Daily 10:30-17:30, www.guggenheim.org/