Rashid Johnson: Nudistertian

Nudiustertian is a solo exhibition by the American artist Rashid Johnson, which is an exploration of his recent past, these works represent part of a practice he has developed from 2018 to the present. This vocabulary of Nudiustertian is an obsolete English phrase meaning the day before yesterday or the recent past.

Capturing subjective and collective states of history in real-time, the artist turned this iconography into his Bruise Paintings and Surrender Paintings, rendered in shades of blue and white. For Bruise Paintings, the artist collaborated with R&F paints to create the "Black&Blue" color, which he layered and stretched across the canvas to give the impression of a wider range of colors in a single hue. The repetition and expressiveness of the blue figures bring fluidity to the work, a nod to the importance of gesture in Johnson's work. With a sense of lyrical melancholy, Bruise's paintings speak to the times we live in, creating a liminal space where healing has begun but remnants of trauma are still evident.

In the exhibition included a newly developed series of seascapes, canvases completely painted with neutral white or Prussian blue oil paint, which Johnson rubbed off and rowed into rowboat-like shapes. The artist sees these shapes as containers for the self, expressing a sense of autonomy, independence, and individualism at a time when alliance-building and collectivism seem more appropriate to activate the artwork. The repetition of themes and their scale suggest the possibility of escape, of isolation, longing, and being adrift at sea.

Rashid Johnson - << Nudiustertian >>
Date: 20 Mar – 10 May 2023
Gallery: Hauser & Wirth
Address: 15-16/F, H Queen’s, 80 Queen's Road Central, Central, Hong Kong
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