Rashid Johnson

For nearly 30 years, artist Rashid Johnson (b. 1977, Chicago) has cultivated a diverse body of work that draws upon an array of disciplines such as history, philosophy, literature, and music. This major solo exhibition at The Guggenheim Museum of Art, NY, highlights Johnson’s role as a scholar of art history, a mediator of Black popular culture, and as a creative force in contemporary art.

Almost 90 works—from black-soap paintings and spray-painted text works to large-scale sculptures, film, and video—fill the museum’s rotunda, including Sanguine, a monumental site-specific work on the building’s top ramp with an embedded piano for musical performances. Additionally, a dynamic program of events, developed in collaboration with community partners across New York City, activate a sculptural stage on the rotunda floor.

As part of Guggenheim New York’s exhibition Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers, the museum will present a dynamic series of live performances and public programs. Each month, community partners curate spoken word, music, and live art events that bring to life Johnson’s two major installations— Sanguine, a monumental site-specific work on the building’s top ramp with an embedded piano, and Rotunda Stage, which bookend the exhibition.