Rindon Johnson

Rindon Johnson (born 1990, California) is an American artist and writer. ^[1] Johnson has based his work on language and its slippery nature. He uses animal hides, animation, virtual reality, wood and vaseline to consider capital accumulation and the systemic violences that maintain it. ^{[2] [3]} Johnson has exhibited and performed internationally, and is a published author. ^[4] He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York and Berlin, Germany. ^[5]

Early life and education

Johnson was born in the unceded territory of the Ohlone peoples, ^[6] in San Francisco, CA in 1990. ^[7] He graduated from New York University and received his MFA from Bard College in 2018. ^[8]

Work

Installation view La Biennale di Venezia 2024, Rindon Johnson, Coeval Proposition #1: Tear down so as to make flat with the Ground or The *Trans America Building DISMANTLE EVERYTHING 2021-ongoing

Johnson is the author of several books including The Law of Large Numbers, published by SculptureCenter, Chisenhale Gallery and Inpatient Press in 2021, the chapbook, No One Sleeps Better Than White People, published by Inpatient Press, and the virtual reality e-book, Meet Me in the Corner. ^[9] In 2017, Johnson collaborated with multidisciplinary artist Ser Serpas on Shade the King, a book of stream-of-consciousness-inspired poems by Johnson and abstract drawings by Serpas, published by Capricious. ^[10]

Rindon Johnson participated in the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia curated by Adriano Pedrosa. In September 2024, Johnson will present his largest solo exhibition to date at the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, China. ^[11] His work has been shown internationally, including solo presentations at Albertinum, Dresden (2022), SculptureCenter in New York (2021), and the Julia Stoschek Collection in Düsseldorf (2019). ^{[12] [13]}

Johnson has written for a number of online and print art publications such as The Brooklyn Rail, ^[14] Cultured Magazine, ^[15] Hyperallergic, ^[16] and Artforum ^[17] and has lectured on art and theory at Bruce High Quality Foundation University, ^[1] Princeton, ^[18] UdK Berlin ^[19] and UCLA. ^[20]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

• Find Spot, Kunsthall Bergen, Bergen, Norway, 2025 ^[21]
• Seven Whale Road, Cibrán, San Sebastián, Spain, 2025 ^[22]
• Why tell a dead man the future, CC Strombeek, Brussels, Belgium, 2025 ^[23]
• Best Synthetic Answer, Rockbund Museum - Shanghai, China, 2024 ^[24]
• Five, Max Goelitz, Berlin, Germany, 2023-24 ^[25]
• Andromache Freya Rocket Suki Nomad Pete Kimmy Z River Chloe Ali Robert Maple Tigger Theodosia Martha Nate, COMA Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2023 ^[26]
• The Bells Pursuing One Another, Albertinum, Dresden, Germany, 2022 ^[27]
• Cuvier, Francois Ghebaly, New York, New York, New York, USA, 2022 ^[28]
• Law of Large Numbers: Our Bodies, SculptureCenter, Long Island City, New York, USA, 2021 ^[29]
• Law of Large Numbers: Our Selves, Chisenhale Gallery, London, United Kingdom, 2021 ^[30]
• The Valley of the Moon, Francois Ghebaly, Los Angeles, California, USA, 2021 ^[31]
• Circumscribe, Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2019 ^[32]
• Well, Covered, AALA Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA, 2018 ^[33]
• A Din, A Hand, Beacon Sacramento, Sacramento, California, USA, 2017 ^[34]
• Existential Hangover, The Guest Room IRL at The Museum of Human Achievement, Austin, Texas, USA, 2017 ^[35]

Selected Collaborative Exhibitions

• Lifes, The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California, USA, 2022 ^[36]
• Unlock the Gates! Span the Mouth!, Sophie Tappenier, Vienna, Austria, 2022 ^[37]
• This End The Sun, New Museum, New York, New York, USA, 2021 ^[38]
• A Cultivated Life, King’s Leap, Brooklyn, New York, USA, 2018 ^[39]
• Or Else the Women Play the Game, Stellar Projects, New York, New York, USA, 2018 ^[40]

Selected group exhibitions

• Accumulation – On Collecting, Growth and Excess, Second Sequence, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland, 2025 ^[41]
• Stranieri Ovunque / Foreigners Everywhere, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy, 2024 ^[42]
• Poetics of Encryption, KW Institute of Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany, 2024 ^[43]
• Some of It Falls from the Belt and Lands on the Walkway Beside the Conveyor, Vleeshal, Middelburg, Netherlands, 2022 ^[44]
• Quiet as it's Kept, Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum, New York, New York, USA, 2022 ^[45]
• Get Rid of Yourself, Sophie Tappeiner, Vienna, Austria, 2020 ^[46]
• Materia Medica, Francois Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles, USA, 2020 ^[47]
• Searching the Sky for Rain, SculptureCenter, New York, New York, USA, 2019 ^[48]
• Radical Reading Room, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York, USA, 2019 ^[49]
• Nobody Promised You Tomorrow, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, USA, 2019 ^[50]
• TOUCHING FROM A DISTANCE, Literaturhaus, Berlin, Germany, 2018 ^[51]
• States of Play: Roleplaying Reality, FACT, Liverpool, United Kingdom, 2018 ^[52]
• New Black Portraitures, curated by Aria Dean, Rhizome, Online, 2017 ^[53]
• NGV Triennial, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, 2017 ^[54]
• The Unframed World, HeK (Haus der elektronischen Künste), Basel, Switzerland, 2017 ^[55]

References

1. NoFavorite. "BHQFU | The Annihilation of Time and Space: Image Literacy in the 21st Century". BHQFU. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
2. "'The Most Liberatory Thing We've Got': How Artist Rindon Johnson Uses the Power of Language".
3. "Habitats and Humanity: Rindon Johnson's Playlist". September 21, 2018.
4. "Artist: Rindon johnson".
5. "Artist & Poet Rindon Johnson on the Need For Speed During a Time of Global Disillusionment". March 2, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
6. "Ohlone Land | Centers for Educational Justice & Community Engagement".
7. "Artist: Rindon johnson".
8. "First Look: Rindon Johnson". September 2018.
9. Press, Inpatient. "NOBODY SLEEPS BETTER THAN WHITE PEOPLE by Rin Johnson". Inpatient Press. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
10. "Shade the King | Capricious".
11. "Launch of 2024 program: Complex Geographies - Announcements - e-flux".
12. "Artist: Rindon johnson".
13. "François Ghebaly › Rindon Johnson".
14. "Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon". The Brooklyn Rail. December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
15. "Rindon Johnson Interviews Her Favorite Artists Including Ser Serpas". www.culturedmag.com. July 25, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
16. "Rindon Johnson Archives". July 29, 2021.
17. "artforum.com / contributors". artforum.com. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
18. "Visual Arts Faculty & Visiting Artists".
19. "Rindon Johnson – Universität der Künste Berlin".
20. "New Genres : UCLA Department of Art".
21. "Find Spot | Kunsthall Bergen".
22. "Seven Whale Road | Cibrán".
23. "Why tell a dead man the future | CC Strombeek".
24. "Launch of 2024 program: Complex Geographies - Announcements - e-flux".
25. "Five | rindon johnson | 13 September 2023 - 13 January 2024".
26. "Andromache Freya Rocket Suki Nomad Pete Kimmy Z River Chloe Ali Robert Maple Tigger Theodosia Martha Nate - COMA". COMA.
27. "Albertinum: Ernst-Rietschel-Kunstpreis für Skulptur 2022 Rindon Johnson".
28. https://ghebaly.com/ ^{[ bare URL ]}
29. "Rindon Johnson: Law of Large Numbers: Our Bodies".
30. "Johnson".
31. "François Ghebaly › Rindon Johnson".
32. https://jsfoundation.art/exhibitions/rindon-johnson-circumscribe/ ^{[ bare URL ]}
33. "Art Los Angeles Contemporary". artlosangelesfair.com. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
34. "Consent: May 22 – May 27". The Beacon Project. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
35. "Something's Come Between Us at Songs for Presidents – Art Viewer". November 5, 2017.
36. "Lifes | Hammer Museum". February 16, 2022.
37. "Rindon Johnson & Jordan Loeppky-Kolesnik".
38. "This End the Sun".
39. "Exhibitions - King's Leap".
40. https://artguide.artforum.com/uploads/guide.004/id26624/press_release.pdf ^{[ bare URL PDF ]}
41. [... "Accumulation – On Collecting, Growth and Excess , Second Sequence"]. Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst.{{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
42. "Biennale Arte 2024 | Biennale Arte 2024: Stranieri Ovunque - Foreigners Everywhere". January 31, 2024.
43. "Poetics of Encryption Exhibition 24". November 28, 2023.
44. "Some of It Falls from the Belt and Lands on the Walkway Beside the Conveyor". July 11, 2022.
45. "Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It's Kept".
46. "Get Rid of Yourself".
47. "François Ghebaly › Materia Medica".
48. "Searching the Sky for Rain".
49. "Radical Reading Room".
50. "Nobody Promised You Tomorrow: Art 50 Years After Stonewall".
51. "Literaturhaus Berlin | Touching from a Distance".
52. https://cdn.fact.co.uk/uploads/documents/States-of-Play-Roleplay-Reality-Gallery-Guide.pdf?v=1551182774#:~:text=States%20of%20Play%3A%20Roleplay%20Reality%20considers%20how%20roleplay%20%E2%80%94found%20in,'real%20world'%20have%20collided. ^{[ bare URL ]}
53. https://newblackportraitures.rhizome.org/ ^{[ bare URL ]}
54. "I Hate Men and Cattle | NGV".
55. "Die ungerahmte Welt / The Unframed World - Christoph Merian Verlag".