Galerie Guido W. Baudach, Berlin Private Collection, Europe
Catalogue Essay
Rashid Johnson uses the incorporation of a range of common place objects into his work as a means to draw associations between his childhood and his inspiration. In a process he describes as “hijacking the domestic,” the artist transforms these materials, such as books, records, plants, photographs and shea butter, into compelling and conceptual works that challenge and confront stereotypical attitudes on race and origin. In Sechs Consciousness, the artist explores the physicality of carefully chosen objects, placed on a shrine-like background., that form part of a complex visual, psychological and conceptual construction of personal identity.
“So I started thinking about this kind of domestic material and taking it into a place where it would not necessarily expect to find itself. I’ve always considered the artist as almost a magician-like character who grants agency to materials to allow them to be elevated into objects that we admire.” Rashid Johnson