Field Trip: Rashid Johnson Exhibition

At the exhibit “Message to Our Folks” by Rashid Johnson it was all that I thought it would be. The title of the exhibit is a commonly used phrase throughout the African American community and really fit well with theme of Johnson’s work. I enjoyed the photo “Emmett” which pictured a man with his hair parted like Fredrick Douglas. This photo seemed to show the respect that Rashid Johnson had for all the contributions that Fredrick Douglas made that affects our society today. I feel as if work like this is good for us as a society because this could influence someone young or old to educate themselves on the life of Mr. Douglas.

In the piece “The Moment of Creation” it depicted items that hold a sentimental meaning to Rashid Johnson. It almost felt like shelf that you would see in someone’s home that tells the viewer about the home owner. Pieces like this and “The Shuttle” tells the viewer about a person’s background and upbringing without having to speculate. I glad that he included that the tour guide explained how the CB radio in “The Shuttle” represented his father’s electronic store or I might have assumed that his father was a truck driver.

The piece “Jonathan” was the most powerful for me because it depicted a homeless man with his eyes closed. I could see the pain that the man had endured in is life because I could see very detailed scaring in the man’s face.  The man looked broken but in a way gave me strength. It was explained to use that silver printing was a detailed process and with the up close style photo it reminded me very much of a chuck close painting. In the work that Chuck Close depicts his friends a very troubled I feel the same emotions as I did when I saw Johnson’s piece “Jonathan”.

“Message to Our Folks” was a very powerful exhibit and gives it’s viewer a healthy view of the African American lifestyle. So people never get to see this side of the African American culture because of what is shown everyday on television. We not only got a chance to see the work of Mr. Johnson but we had a chance to see inside his world. Whether it was a video of with doing “Black Yoga” or a picture of his father doing martial arts it gave us a tour of his world.