Rashid Johnson was born in 1977 in Chicago IL. He received his BA in photography from Columbia College in Chicago; in 2005, Johnson studied for his MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Johnson’s mixed-media practice incorporates a wide-range of everyday materials and objects, including wax, wood, steel, brass, shea butter, ceramic tile, books, records, VHS tapes, live plants, and CB radios. With shamanistic inspiration from both African-American culture and art history, Johnson’s recent practice inspires to a form of mysticism and evokes the role of devotional objects in everyday ordinary life. This autumn, Hauser & Wirth, London will present a solo exhibition of Johnson’s new works titled: ‘Waves'. Most recent solo exhibitions include: ‘Rashid Johnson. The Hikers’ at the Aspen Art Museum, Aspen CO, the Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico and at Hauser & Wirth, New York NY (2019); ‘Provocations. Rashid Johnson’, Institute for Contemporary Art, Richmond VA (2018); ‘Rashid Johnson. No More Water’ at Lismore Castle Arts, Lismore, (2018); ‘Rashid Johnson. Hail We Now Sing Joy’ at The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City MO which traveled to the Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee WI (2017).
Nicholas Cullinan took up his position as the Director of the National Portrait Gallery in spring 2015 following his role as Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Prior to this, from 2007 to 2013, Nicholas was Curator of International Modern Art at Tate Modern where he co-curated an exhibition of Henri Matisse's cut-outs with Sir Nicholas Serota in 2014. Nicholas received his BA, MA and PhD in art history from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London and in 2006–7 he held the Hilla Rebay International Fellowship at the Guggenheim museums in Bilbao, New York and Venice.
Pictured at the top: Rashid Johnson. Photo by Axel Dupeux