This exhibition includes Johnson's Anxious Audience, large - scale panels
of white ceramic tile covered with dozens of agitated faces scrawled in black soap and wax.
The look ranges from the plainest of
white ceramic tiles with white grout to colorful mosaics, from vintage Victorian to futuristic.
In the first room of «Fly Away», visitors are surrounded by six large - scale panels of
white ceramic tile covered with dozens of agitated faces scrawled in black soap and wax.
The lower gallery is occupied by Looking for One (2015), a 120 x 405 x 195
cm white ceramic tile intervention reminiscent of a toilet or shower area featuring a still life (comprising a polished steel laptop - shaped item, an ashtray with cast popcorn sprouting from it and a multi-purpose cleaner cast in resin) and Taken by Your Equivocal Stance I, II and III (2015), three metal and glass installations framing hoodies and puffer jackets, adorned with eggs balanced on the edges of the sculpture.
RASHID JOHNSON (B. 1977) Space
Odyssey white ceramic tiles, spray enamel, book, plastic plant, vinyl, shea butter and space rock 72.7 / 8 x 97.1 / 2 x 9in.
While a
classic white ceramic tile will never go out of style, it feels fresh when laid in a herringbone pattern instead of traditional subway running bond.
Using his signature materials
of white ceramic tile, red oak flooring, shea butter, black soap, and wax, Johnson examines themes of race, history, yearning, anxiety, and escape and investigates the relationship between art, society, and personal identity.
RASHID JOHNSON, «Waves,» 2016 (
white ceramic tile, black soap, wax, vinyl, spray enamel).
White ceramic tile, black soap, and wax, 73 × 94 1/2 × 3 inches.
The exhibition culminates in Untitled: Clowns, a new body of work resulting from this rural sojourn — and also the aftermath of the American Presidential Election — in which giant masks of black soap and wax melt down grids of
white ceramic tile.
Rashid Johnson, Untitled Anxious Audience, 2016,
white ceramic tile, black soap and wax (photo by author for Art F City)
RASHID JOHNSON «Time Flies,» 2010
White ceramic tile, mirror, plant, vinyl, book, shea butter, space rock 48 by 73 by 8 5/8 in.
Rashid Johnson The Crowd, 2016
White ceramic tile, black soap, and wax 73 x 94 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches (185.42 x 240.03 x 6.35 cm) © Rashid Johnson; Courtesy the Artist and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles Photo by Argenis Apolinario
The back room is populated with six 2.45 x 1.84 meter works all made of
white ceramic tiles (a ready - made mapped two - dimensional grid so to speak) with their surfaces embracing, in the same manner as the previous works, enigmatic figures in black soap and wax.
Rashid Johnson: Hail We Now Sing Joy June 23, 2017 — September 17, 2017 Hail We Now Sing Joy presents new paintings and sculptures by Chicago native Rashid Johnson (b. 1977), who uses materials such as shea butter, black soap, and
white ceramic tile to explore themes of race, identity, and escape.
The contrast between the neutrality of
the white ceramic tile and the magnetism of the anonymous, restless face incised in black soap and wax creates irrepressible emotional density.
The large - scale panels of
white ceramic tile are covered with dozens of agitated faces that Johnson created in black soap and wax.
In the Falling Men series, Johnson uses his signature materials of
white ceramic tile, red oak flooring, mirror fragments, and black soap and wax to depict inverted figures falling through the air that can be read as flying heroes or chalk outlines of deceased bodies from crime scenes.
Rashid Johnson Falling Man, 2015 Burned red oak flooring,
white ceramic tile, spray enamel, mirror, black soap, wax 245.1 x 184.2 x 6.4 cm / 96 1/2 x 72 1/2 x 2 1/2 in
«It's best to pair this abundance of marble with quiet finishes —
white ceramic tile or dove grey porcelain — to ensure that the mosaic takes centre stage and everything else is supporting rather than competing.»
We did greyish /
white ceramic tiles.
black and
white ceramic tile.
The backsplash is
a white ceramic tile installation that echoes the floor pattern and incorporates a silver grey grout, creating a rustic, hand formed look.