Rashid Johnson -- The Dead Lecturer: Laboratory, Dojo, and Performance Space
January 31, 2009 - May 15, 2009
Opening Reception Saturday, January 31, 2-5pm
Power House Memphis (PHM) is thrilled to present The Dead Lecturer: Laboratory, Dojo, and Performance Space, a site specific installation and happening created by rising American star, Rashid Johnson. Power House’s first exhibition of 2009 is an ambitious endeavor. Not only have most of the works been made within the actual space of PHM, but viewers will also see how Johnson has reenergized the space with his photographs, paintings, and signature mirror work. The artist’s quest to define and dispel the concept of blackness via experiment, combat or self-defense and ceremony, transforms the space into an experience rather than a mere installation. The inner sanctum of black intelligentsia is revealed to viewers, encouraging an understanding about the underlying myths and misconceptions of and about blackness. Utilizing found materials and creating assemblages made from shea butter, wood, mirrors, wax, steel and black soap, Johnson combines these ingredients to question the organic and fixed realm of the society in which we live. The tenor of this exhibition is one of contemplation and awe at the conspiracy of the universe that makes the intersection of past, present, and future a paradoxical dance.
Appropriating a portion of the show’s title from a book of poems by LeRoi Jones, (now known as Amiri Baraka), Johnson invites us to explore time, space, reality and the complex “isms” of our own individuality. Johnson’s reference to Jones’, Dead Lecturer, conflates and pays homage to the work, while also offering a subtext that leads to the avant-garde aesthetics and theories of artist and poet, Marcel Broodthaers. Johnson questions the constraints and linearity of traditional art theory, by offering viewers his abstract, yet experiential observations about the art world and society as a whole. This installation transforms the Power House into a place that inquires about the metaphysical notions of race, identity, and culture while also casting off past beliefs systems. Ultimately, Johnson has created a unique and complex dialogue about the incongruous nature of the society we inhabit.
