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Rashid Johnson: The Gathering – Hauser & Wirth Zürich

Rashid Johnson - Bootsy

Rashid Johnson
Bootsy, 2013
Burned red oak flooring, black soap, wax, spray enamel
245.1 x 184.2 x 7.6 cm / 96 1/2 x 72 1/2 x 3 in

Rashid Johnson: The Gathering – Hauser & Wirth Zürich Hauser & Wirth announces Rashid Johnson’s first solo exhibition in Switzerland, ‘The Gathering’, comprising over a dozen new works including sculpture, painting and video. 2 November – 21 December 2013.]]>

Source: Hauser & Wirth Zürich

For this exhibition, Johnson will unveil a new series of abstract portraits which he refers to as ‘characters’. To make these new works, Johnson begins with a panel made from wood flooring, arranged in a geometric composition and sprayed with gold enamel paint. He then takes a blow torch to the surface and burns off almost all of the paint, leaving behind a golden aura with hints of other colours left by the paint residue. Using this surface as his canvas, the artist applies his signature black soap and wax mixture, creating a gestural form that resembles a figure. The abstracted form of these ‘characters’ was inspired in part by Johnson’s recent re-reading of Albert Camus’ ‘L’Étranger’, in particular a memorable scene in which the rays of the sun obscure Meursault’s vision of the Arab.

Figuration has played a significant role in Johnson’s work since the earliest days of his career –in a series of photographic portraits of homeless men in Chicago– but here it finds a place in his painting practice for the first time. A group of ‘characters’ of different scales gather in a single room of the exhibition, suggesting the ‘gathering’ that the artist refers to in the exhibition’s title.

The exhibition will also include several new wood wall sculptures with shelves supporting found objects. Marking a departure from his previous wood wall works, in this exhibition Johnson makes the edges of the works uneven, revealing the wooden floor boards from which the panels are made. With shamanistic inspiration from both African-American and Art history, many of Johnson’s works employ materials in a way that suggests an indefinite form of mysticism and a role as devotional objects, and these sculptures suggest a use as altars or shrines. In fact, the artist has said that he likes the idea of these objects literally being put to use: the books on the shelves being read and contemplated, the shea butter being rubbed on elbows, the records being played, and so forth.

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Rashid Johnson: The Gathering - Hauser & Wirth Zürich