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    Rashid Johnson:
    Smoke and Mirrors

    Rashid Johnson: Smoke and Mirrors

    May 10–Aug 3, 2009

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    SculptureCenter is pleased to present Smoke and Mirrors by Rashid Johnson. Smoke and Mirrors will be on view May 10-August 3, 2009 with an opening reception on Sunday, May 10, 2009 from 5-7pm.

    For his first solo museum show in New York, Rashid Johnson will present a number of new large-scale sculptural works that suggest altars, entertainment consoles, or constructivist-like abstractions alongside photographs and works in other media. Considered one of the up and coming artists whose work has been termed "post-black", Johnson engages with racial identity but in ways that insist on fluidity and contradiction. Johnson uses materials such as steel, poured wax, and shea butter, while juxtaposing relics and artifacts in an approach that flirts with the shamanistic.

    Concerned equally with 20th Century art history, popular culture and African American intellectual history, Johnson cites Sun Ra, Joseph Beuys, Rosalind Krauss, Richard Pryor, Hans Haacke, Carl Andre among his influences. Rashid Johnson studied at Columbia College, Chicago (1996-2000) and the School at the Art Institute of Chicago(2004-2005). His exhibitions include Thirty Americans (2008, Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL); A Perfect Union...More or Less, (2004, Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, IL); and Freestyle, (2001, The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY). Recent solo exhibitions include The Dead Lecturer: Laboratory, Dojo, and Performance Space, The Powerhouse, Memphis, TN, and Sharpening My Oyster Knife (2008, the Magdeburger Kunstmuseum, Magdeburg, Germany. He lives and works in New York.

    Sponsors

    SculptureCenter's exhibitions and public programs are supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts and The Lily Auchincloss Foundation.