Artist Rashid Johnson on cultural production, commentary

High Museum of Art Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Michael Rooks and Artist Rashid Johnson 
photo by Patrice Worthy

Rashid Johnson’s work can easily be compared to the cultural satire of comedian Paul Mooney or commentary of award winning hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar.  As an artist he expresses poignant observations from a lineage of voices that have all but disappeared from public dialogue. Possessing a heightened sense of double consciousness, he critiques society from the perspective of a man living far enough on the outskirts of Blackness to be honest. 

In June of 2012, Johnson won the High Museum David Driskell Art Award of $25,000 making him the seventh person to receive the prestigious honor. His success as an artist lies in his ability to translate the unique relationship between Black political thought and society. Johnson says his keen perceptions about race in America fueled his creative drive.

“I think I was always aware of the stereotype of a monolithic Black character,” Johnson says. “Where I grew up in Evanston Il, there was a tremendous divide between Black and white and different Blacks. All the Black people I knew were so different in every aspect of class, color, socio-economics and outlook. For me, the idea of one type of Black character and stereotype has always been strange.”

Johnson’s work is described as Post Black Art, a form of art exploring issues of race without interpretation of racism. An example is seen in the artist's 2004 exhibition Evolution of the Negro Political Costume. The work includes a dashiki worn by Jesse Jackson in the 1960’s, a running suit worn by Al Sharpton on the 1980’s and a business suit worn by Barack Obama. The piece uses clothing as a symbol of racial awareness and progress. Rashid examines how the politics of style are executed among Black politicians.

“I think outside of the Black experience costuming is a huge part of the human condition,” Johnson explains. “To galvanize and create a collective consciousness Jesse Jackson used the dashiki to promote the Black experience. Al Sharpton wore the jumpsuit to designate himself as a man of the people and Barack is the most mainstream of them all.”

               Rashid Johnson at the High Museum of Art              
David Driskell Award Dinner 
                photo courtesy of the High Museum of Art                  

In his work, Johnson demonstrates how the progression of costuming can be interpreted as an expansion of social mobility, but Black ideology is more profound than appealing to one homogenous group. The award-winning artist’s ability to reflect the thoughts of the Black middle class can be attributed to his childhood. Johnson grew up in a household dominated by academia in Evanston, Il., outside of Chicago, near Northwestern University. During his formative years he was confused about topics and theories discussed among his mother’s peers, but as he grew older he understood the world of academia and, in particular , how Black people related to it. The experience of his youth inspired him to create the piece The New Negro Escapist Social and Athletic Club. The exhibit was described as "a fictional secret society of African-American intellectuals, a cross between Mensa and the Masons….” 

"I am conscious of a natural exclusivity of Black academics and the shroud they live in,” Johnson says. “There has always been a Black intellectual class that has been under-discussed.”

Including a diverse social and economic set in the conversation about art and Black people is something Johnson says should be a natural part of the dialogue. He believes it's important art be accessible to everyone, especially children, and the delivery is just as important as the message.

“Introduction is simple. You have to take people to the museum. I have a son and I will expose him by just putting him in the room,” Rashid says. He applauds programs like Little Black Pearl in Chicago, but says youngsters need a more natural acclamation to art.

“Sometimes those groups don’t allow natural intellectual inquiry, if we chop it into little tiny bits they’ll never grow with it.”

Johnson says, as a child, the support he received from his family and his exposure shaped his ideas about the future and place in the art world.

“I was always encouraged to be an artist and doing what I wanted to do,” Johnson recalls. “It was always like anything else in the art world you walk into a room and see fewer brown faces. I saw it as discouraging. The Driskell Prize was a real honor because David Driskell was an artist, as a young man that made me see I could do this …. that there were Black artists and Black thinkers invested in cultural production."

A piece by Rashid Johnson

 A fan of diverse mediums, Johnson embraces others who contribute to the Black experience
using art as their platform. He is a fan of some of the most well-known artists and others who work is considered controversial.  His taste range from The Art Jazz Ensemble and Jay-Z to lesser known hip hop music such as O.C., the Word Life Album. He believes Aaron McGruder, the creator of the Boondocks, an animated series following two young boys and their grandfather, to be a genius. The cartoon is cultural commentary as its best. The show paved the way for what some call the “Black Hour” during Adult Swim, a tv block featuring the popular animated series Black Dynamite. Johnson loves the candid portrayal of everyday life from a Black intellectual perspective.

“Aaron McGruder is a genius. His stuff is provocative he’s definitely a commentator on Black culture,” Johnson says. “I think hip-hop is as much a conversation around the avant-garde. Black people have always been pioneers of the avant-garde.”

Check out Johnson's latest exhibition Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers  at the Guggenheim Museum on view through January 9th 2026.