Beyond Identity: A Conversation with Rashid Johnson on Evolution, Fatherhood, and Creative Struggle
I've known Rashid Johnson for almost 20 years. We did a show together when we were babies. So sitting down with him after all this time, it's not easy. You'll see what I mean when the tape starts to roll. When you know someone so well, it's hard to do the whole professional interview thing.
But what I so loved about this particular conversation is what dawned on me as I sat with him. And maybe this seems fairly obvious, but it's the evolution in Rashid's work, or "project," as he calls it, that's mind-blowing. He's always centered what he does on his identity as a Black man, always has asked us to think about race, belonging, the human condition, and challenges his viewers to confront uncomfortable truths and engage in critical dialogue.
But the evolution of his work is what makes it noteworthy and deserving of the canon. Rashid has moved from self or direct representation in his photography, which I do still love, to these more abstracted realities and emotions. The work has become so much more universal as a result. But what I really love about it is that the work has grown with him through anxiety and fatherhood and husbanding and even his great success. And as a result, it's always of this moment. It's not nostalgic. It's so very present.
And that's likely what's made him so successful. And you see this in his most recent painting. There's an undoing in this latest series, a corporality, skeletons exposed, raw, open. They feel so of this time, and they brought me to my knees. I'm sure they'll resonate with you, too.
Watch my full conversation with Rashid.
Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Rashid's landmark exhibition "A Poem for Deep Thinkers" just opened at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and it is an unmissable opportunity to experience the full breadth of Rashid’s work. This rotunda-filling retrospective features nearly 90 works spanning Johnson's career, from his early photography to his powerful "Anxious Men" series and premiering his new film "Sanguine" that explores intergenerational family dynamics. Running from April 18, 2025, through January 18, 2026, the exhibition offers a rare chance to witness how Johnson's art has evolved while consistently examining themes of identity, belonging, and the human condition. If you're in New York in the coming months, make time to see this revelatory survey that reclaims Johnson "as something more than a market darling" and showcases the full complexity and depth of his artistic vision.