“I think quite often about my philosophy for how a line is structured and how it can represent both personality and perspective.”i
—Rashid JohnsonUnderstanding multi-media artist Rashid Johnson’s work means first to understand his materials, his marks, and their narratives. Johnson is among the Post-Black Art movement, which includes the successors of the post-civil rights generation of African American artists. Coined by Thelma Golden, director and chief curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem, ‘post-black art’ no longer is defined in terms of ‘race.’ Instead, it is focused on “redefining complex notions of blackness.”ii Now relying on connotations rather than didactic expression, in works like Untitled (Good Days), Johnson explores the multiplicitous and loaded narratives found within lines and material of his youth. His interest in lines is particularly significant as it recalls graffiti, which he acknowledges as a fundamental reference point within his oeuvre. Growing up in Chicago, Johnson experienced the duality of urban mark-making, where street art was made both for artistic expression and for gang associations, the latter imbued with power and control. As a result, Johnson was already well-versed in the function and significance of marks at an early age, leading him to be deeply intentional with linework and his overall artistic practice.
Rashid Johnson, Good Love, 2012. Artwork: © Rashid Johnson Untitled (Good Days) draws from the artist’s 2011 series for the 54th Venice Biennale that incorporated wood flooring, black soap, wax, and paint, showcasing Johnson’s exploration of surface and material. This print directly relates to his painting entitled Good Love, which was also made in 2012 to build off his Venice Biennale series, which is characterized by repeated circles made from a branding iron. Johnson acquired a wooden branding kit as a child for creative usage, inspiring this artistic technique while also recalling the practice of branding enslaved peoples. He layered these scorch marks with paint drips reminiscent of Pollock, juxtaposing America’s dark past with art history. This symbol has persisted through various mediums in his work, becoming a historically and culturally dense symbol of the post-black movement. He uniquely employs industrial rubber flocking, a material commonly used for industrial and automotive purposes, to portray this symbology in Untitled (Good Days). Ever conscious of a material’s narrative power, Johnson utilizes rubber flocking exclusively in his prints, reflecting its significance within his overall body of work.
i Samantha Friedman, "A Rashid Johnson Sketchbook," Museum of Modern Art, February 8, 2021, online.
ii Thelma Golden, Freestyle, exh. cat., Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, 2001, p. 14.
Property from a Distinguished Art Collection
44
Untitled (Good Days)
2012
Archival inkjet print and screenprint in colors with industrial rubber flocking, on wove paper, with full margins.
I. 27 x 25 3/4 in. (68.6 x 65.4 cm)
S. 39 7/8 x 29 7/8 in. (101.3 x 75.9 cm)
Signed, dated and numbered 23/40 in pencil on the reverse, published by the artist, unframed.
Estimate
$4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $7,620
Editions & Works on Paper
New York Auction 12 February 2025
10
This lot is no longer available.
149
This lot is no longer available.
