Rashid Johnson on interior compass, melancholy, and rest as resistance

This summer, Rashid Johnson, a Chicago native born in 1977, is curating the exhibition 'Directionless' at Hauser & Wirth Menorca. He has invited artists Charles Gaines, Firelei Báez, and Cristina Iglesias to contribute to a visual essay centered on confusion. Johnson, an alumnus of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, aims to create art that resonates with his inner voice. Inspired during the pandemic, he focused on themes of liberation and rest in his work. His previous exhibition in Menorca, 'Saudade,' showcased feelings of longing in 2022. Currently, he is developing new Martian red paintings that delve into belonging and displacement. Earlier this year, his retrospective 'A Poem for Deep Thinkers' was displayed at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.