Rashid Johnson

Rashid Johnson, Stacked Heads, 2020. Installation view at Canning Dock Quayside, Liverpool Biennial 2021. Photography: Mark McNulty

Rashid Johnson, Stacked Heads, 2020. Installation view at Canning Dock Quayside, Liverpool Biennial 2021. Photography: Mark McNulty

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Rashid Johnson (b. 1977, Chicago, USA) lives and works in New York, USA. Johnson incorporates diverse materials rich with symbolism and personal history, and employs a wide range of media including sculpture, painting, drawing, filmmaking and installation. He is among an influential cadre of contemporary American artists whose work explores themes of art history, individual and shared cultural identities, personal narratives, literature, philosophy, materiality and critical history. Recent exhibitions include Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art, Mexico (2019); Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Russia (2016); Grand Palais, France (2015); and South London Gallery, UK (2012).

Project Description

Rashid Johnson presented a large-scale public sculpture titled Stacked Heads (2020) at Canning Dock Quayside. Johnson's sculpture is formed by two distinct head parts in the style of a totem – made from bronze and furnished with plants. The sculpture takes inspiration from his series Anxious Men (2015-ongoing), which evokes a sense of collective anxiety. Incorporating organic elements in his work, the plants which grow from within the sculpture – yucca and cacti – were selected for their endurance to harsh winds and saline water. The plants resilience and the placement of the work at a waterfront location negotiated Liverpool’s transatlantic histories while keeping prescient contemporary concerns at its core.

Commissioned by Liverpool Biennial with support from Hauser & Wirth.

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