{"id":150314,"date":"2025-09-17T12:08:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T12:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/150314\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T12:08:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T12:08:12","slug":"the-hidden-meanings-in-rashid-johnsons-half-ton-guggenheim-mosaic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/150314\/","title":{"rendered":"the hidden meanings in Rashid Johnson\u2019s half-ton Guggenheim mosaic"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This article is part of FT Globetrotter\u2019s guide to New York<\/a><\/p>\n

This year, visitors have been flocking to the Guggenheim Museum in New York to see its hanging jungle. Crane your neck up the main rotunda\u2019s cavity, and you will find a much-photographed and –reviewed<\/a> suspended garden of living plants. Full palm trees, monsteras and cacti dangle from the rafters.<\/p>\n

The work, \u201cSanguine\u201d, is by artist Rashid Johnson. It is part of his immense solo exhibition, A Poem for Deep Thinkers, which has been up since April and is on view until January 18. It displays 90 works across the artist\u2019s nearly 30-year career.<\/p>\n

\"PaintingsPlants are suspended from the Guggenheim\u2019s ceiling as part of \u2018Sanguine\u2019\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009 \u00a9 David Heald \u00a9 Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation, New York\"The.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009a site-specific work in Johnson\u2019s Guggenheim show \u00a9 Photographs: David Heald \u00a9 Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation, New York<\/p>\n

But before \u201cSanguine\u201d, an equally imposing purpose-built work is on display on the museum\u2019s entrance wall, just beyond the ticket desk as you enter the building.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThree Broken Souls\u201d reflects the artistic evolution of Johnson, who has diversified his use of media over the years from photography and painting to video, audio, performance, mosaic and sculpture, much of it exploring Black identity and culture.<\/p>\n

Sometimes described as a producer of conceptual post-Black art, Johnson himself spurns such labels and is enigmatic in descriptions of his work. But as he told one interviewer<\/a>: \u201cFor my generation, having grown up in the age of hip-hop and Black Entertainment Television, there\u2019s less of a need to define the Black experience so aggressively to a white audience. I think it gives us a different type of opportunity to have a more complex conversation around race and identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RashidRashid Johnson in his studio \u00a9 Josh Woods<\/p>\n

He invites visitors to come to the show \u201cwith an open mind and an open heart\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009and ready to bear witness\u201d, to reflect and then think about what they\u2019re observing rather than simply act as \u201cjust lookers\u201d.<\/p>\n

Completed in 2025, Johnson made \u201cThree Broken Souls\u201d for this Guggenheim exhibition. The colourful mosaic weighs more than half a ton and spans 20 feet. Get close and you\u2019ll see it\u2019s made of tiles, mirrors, oyster shells and other materials sourced or made by Johnson, held together with glue and grout, and then overlaid with black soap and wax.<\/p>\n

We asked Naomi Beckwith, a deputy director of the Guggenheim and the show\u2019s main curator, to select a work from A Poem for Deep Thinkers that could help us explore Johnson\u2019s work. She chose \u201cThree Broken Souls\u201d. The artist designed it to help frame the museum\u2019s large entrance hall, and as a powerful backdrop to the musical events, talks and performances they have been hosting there through the exhibition\u2019s duration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\u2018Sanguine\u2019,Another detail from \u2018Sanguine\u2019. Johnson has diversified his use of media to include video, audio, performance, mosaic and sculpture \u00a9 Photo: David Heald \u00a9 Solomon R.Guggenheim Foundation, New York<\/p>\n

Beckwith says that the work builds on several of the mosaics that Johnson has produced since 2015<\/a>. They explore fatherhood, vulnerability and the lived experience of Black Americans, including \u201cAnxious Men\u201d, \u201cThe Broken Nine\u201d, \u201cUntitled (Broken Crowd)\u201d and \u201cThe Broken Five\u201d (the latter a possible reference to the Central Park Five, who were convicted and eventually pardoned).<\/p>\n

Johnson told the New York Times<\/a> of those earlier mosaics: \u201cMy work has always had concerns around race, struggle, grief and grievance, but also joy and excitement around the tradition and opportunities of Blackness. [\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009] I\u2019m trying to illustrate tons of different people and at the same time they\u2019re probably all me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beckworth stood with me in front of the work to share her interpretation of its symbols, materials and hidden references, based on her knowledge of the show and of Johnson\u2019s work (they are long-standing friends). Here\u2019s a summary of what she sees:<\/p>\n

Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers<\/a> is at the Guggenheim New York until January 18 2026<\/p>\n

What do you see in this piece? Have you seen it in person? Share your impressions in the comments below.<\/p>\n

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