Rindon Johnson
Rindon Johnson (*1990 on the unceded territories of the Ohlone people) is a multidisciplinary artist and author whose works are rooted in language. Moving between physical and virtual space Johnson explores how language shapes our reality, through failure, contradiction and power. Text is only one of the numerous media that the artist appropriates and assembles into new combinations, using naming to raise questions of autonomy and value. Johnson examines the effects of capitalism, climate and technology on how we see and construct our personal realities. By combining word, technology and object, the artist creates multi-layered works. His forms of expression range from publishing, virtual and augmented reality to working with materials such as leather, wood and stone.
Rindon Johnson is invited to the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia curated by Adriano Pedrosa. His largest solo exhibition to date is currently on view at the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, China until April 2025. His work has been shown internationally, most recently as solo presentations at Albertinum, Dresden (2022), Sculpture Center in New York (2021), the Museum of American Art in Washington (2021) and the Julia Stoschek Collection in Düsseldorf (2019). Johnson has written several books, given many lectures, performances and readings, including at MoMa PS1 (2018) and KW in Berlin (2019). Johnson has published works and texts in collaboration with museums and magazines, such as the New York Times.
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Attack in transition (moi!) no paste wasted (run) your center won’t hold (je). Condemnation. Plod. Cope. RC Car. The rain drips from the trees. Did we discuss already the toilet?, 2023
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Lyn Says #1: As for we who "love to be astonished," money makes money, luck makes luck. Moves forward, drives on. Class background not landscape--still here and there in 1969 I could feel the scope of collectivity. It was the present time for a little while, and not so new as we thought then, the present always after war. Ever since it has been hard for me to share my time. yellow of that sad room was again the yellow of naps, where she waited, restless, faithless, for more days. They say that the alternative for the bourgeoisie was gullibility. Call it water and dogs. Reason looks for two, then arranges it from there. But can one imagine a madman in love. Goodbye; enough that was good. There was a pause, a rose, something on paper. I may balk but I won't recede. Because desire is always embarrassing. At the beach, with a fresh flush. The child looks out. The berries are kept in the brambles, on wires on reserve for the birds. At a distance, the sun is small., 2023
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Paths wind through woods. Dogs chase their tails. Smiles light up faces. Laughs echo loudly. Dreams take flight. Hopes rise high. Waves roll gently. Children skip merrily. Words convey thoughts. Maroon. Time heals wounds. Minds seek answers. Fates twist and turn. Truths reveal slowly. Lives unfold daily. Manifestation is such a chore. Say it a loud, see it how mouths: a companionable environment can engender impressive thirstiness, 2023
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Coeval Proposition #1: Tear down so as to make flat with the Ground or The *Trans America Building DISMANTLE EVERYTHING, 2021
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For example, collect the water just to see it pool there above your head. Don’t be a Fucking Hero!, 2021
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Clattering, 2021
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This canon fodder is no bother, 2023
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Beyond the pines, pines, pines, pines, pines, hard mountain, enduring, except all the conventions conspire NOTHING BY MOUTH! Transmission: desire labyrinth, do I turn on my vpn to watch american television for the drug commercials, extreme effort in their function, heads bent forward, forearms lifted, confectionery, ineffectively, connectivity, be specific what kind of pain do you like. Do you like any kind of pain. Shape this with your eyes. Somebody once asked me if I could spare some change for gas, I need to get out of this place and I thought I could use some gas myself. Reassuring thud, Reassuring thud, 2023
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Clattering, 2021
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Examples: laughter in the morning and tears in the afternoon. A dreadful boar.—His burning, bloodshot eyes seemed coals of living fire, and his roughneck was knotted with stiff muscles, and thick-set with bristles like sharp spikes. A seething froth dripped on his shoulders, and his tusks were like the spoils. Discordant roars reverberated from his hideous jaws; and lightning—belched forth from his horrid throat— scorched the green fields. If the wind blows, I can’t control that. I did not expect you. So was it just your husband who went fishing. Of course it was just him. Fundament. The trash clouds moved over the town. Progress. Hundreds of thousands. You don’t see it? It is said that in their country gold is carried down by the mountain torrents, and that the barbarians obtain it by means of perforated troughs and fleecy skins. It represents royal power. It represents the flayed skin of Krios, companion of Phrixus. It represents a book on alchemy. It represents a technique of writing in gold on parchment.. It represents a form of placer mining practiced in Georgia, for example. It represents the forgiveness of the Gods. It represents a rain cloud. It represents a land of golden grain. It represents the spring-hero. It represents the sea reflecting the sun. It represents the gilded prow of Phrixus' ship. It represents a breed of sheep in ancient. It represents the riches imported from the East. It represents the wealth or technology of Colchis. It was a covering for a cult image of Zeus in the form of a ram. It represents a fabric woven from sea silk. It is about a voyage from Greece, through the Mediterranean, across the Atlantic to the Americas. It represents trading fleece dyed murex-purple for Georgian gold, 2023
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Fruit of the poisonous tree, Higher and more free! The music must always play, All the conventions conspire to make this fort assume the furniture of home; Lest we should see where we are, higher and more free! Lost in a haunted wood, What are the consequences of two different forms interacting? Ice on a bed of mint leaves. That’s what I thought in the early morning. Higher and more free! Breeze engine. If no is what it is then that’s what it is. Breeze Engine. Paint dries on walls. Bells chime at noon. Rivers flow through canyons. Enough. Enough. Enough. Enough. Enough., 2023
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Now you tell me. Like always, so much depends on a single white chicken in the orchard. The splinter in your eye is the best magnifying glass. Happiness writes white. DISMANTLE EVERYTHING! It felt better going in than out. You know how it is, the absence of a casualty or a fatality does not mean the presence of safety, 2023
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Cambrian slippery wetness, I’ve never looked at anything so long, and in which of us people does the common matter rise?, 2021
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Diver, 2022
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May the moon meet us apart, may the sun meet us together, 2021
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occasional urges
13 November 2024 - 17 January 2025 Munichoccasional urges brings together works by Sophronia Cook, Dorota Gawęda and Eglė Kulbokaitė, Rindon Johnson, and David Reed, exploring how temporal presence is captured and expressed through gestures, bodily movements, and shifting states within the artworks. The interplay of transparency and presence, along with the layering of these elements, foregrounds...continue reading -
symbiotic beings
13 March - 4 May 2024 MunichThe exhibition symbiotic beings with Natacha Donzé, Rindon Johnson, Haroon Mirza and Justin Urbach explores a complex harmony of organic and human-made systems. In their works, biological, botanical or celestial structures merge with synthetic and industrial elements and materials. These connections illustrate that even seemingly contradictory elements can be in...continue reading -
five | rindon johnson
13 September 2023 - 13 January 2024 BerlinRindon Johnson's first solo exhibition at the Berlin gallery is based on his science fiction novel Clattering and presents an expansive installation that was created on the occasion of Johnson's nomination for the Future Generation Art Prize 2021. For the exhibition five, the multimedia installation will be embedded in an expanded exhibition concept with new works by the artist.continue reading -
under the sun | liz deschenes, rindon johnson and troika
2 March - 14 April 2022 MunichThe group exhibition under the sun brings together works by the artists Liz Deschenes, Rindon Johnson and the collective Troika. The title under the sun leads metaphorically through the show and refers to our collective, yet decentralized existence on the entire planet Earth, which is currently confronted with numerous challenges.continue reading
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art düsseldorf 2024
12 - 14 April 2024max goelitz’s booth concept for Art Düsseldorf 2024 establishes a dialogue between current works by Rindon Johnson, Lou Jaworski and Haroon Mirza within an installation concept by Troika. The booth...continue reading -
art düsseldorf 2023
31 March - 2 April 2023max goelitz presents a dialogue between current works by Natacha Donzé, Lou Jaworski, Rindon Johnson, Brigitte Kowanz, Haroon Mirza, Jürgen Partenheimer and Troika within a multimedia installation at Art Düsseldorf...continue reading
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exhibition | dusseldorf, de
rindon johnson is part of a group exhibition at the julia stoschek foundation exploring representations of the self 8 July 2024The group exhibition Digital Diaries with Rindon Johnson looks at how artists have experimented with diaristic forms in video and digital art from the 1970s...continue reading -
exhibition | sifnos, gr
rindon johnson is part of an exhibtion on the cycladic island sifnos and that unpacks the relationship between land and food 15 June 2024The group exhibition Soil Horizon / Εδαφικός Ορίζοντας with Rindon Johnson unpacks the relationship between land and food. It examines the fragility of land against...continue reading -
exhibition | dusseldorf, de
group exhibition with rindon johnson at jsf düsseldorf, examining how artists have experimented with personal records since the 1970s 9 April 2024The group exhibition “Digital Diaries” looks at how artists have experimented with diaristic forms in video and digital art from the 1970s to today. Inspired...continue reading -
exhibition | shanghai, cn
rindon johnson's first solo exhibition in asia at the rockbund art museum tells the story of a seven-month journey from san francisco to shanghai 6 March 2024Rindon Johnson's first solo exhibition in Asia spans seven months, reflecting the time it took him to swim from his home in San Francisco to...continue reading -
biennale arte | venice, it
rindon johnson is invited to the 60th international art exhibition of la biennale di venezia 1 February 2024We are thrilled to share that Rindon Johnson is invited to the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Adriano Pedrosa....continue reading -
exhibition | berlin, de
rindon johnson and troika are part of the exhibition "poetics of encryption", curated by nadim samman 13 January 2024Rindon Johnson and the Troika are part of the group exhibition Poetics of Encryption at KW - Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, which builds...continue reading -
exhibition | munich, de
max goelitz x kunstraum9 present the exhibition dilated time: luminous perspectives 14 October 2023The privately run KunsTraum9 and max goelitz jointly present the group exhibition Dilated Time: Luminous Perspectives by bringing together the works of six international artists:...continue reading -
exhibition | düsseldorf, de
rindon johnson in the group exhibition "worldbuilding" for the 15th anniversary of the julia stoschek collection 23 September 2023Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the JULIA STOSCHEK COLLECTION, the group exhibition WORLDBUILDING: Gaming and Art in the Digital...continue reading
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Rindon Johnson | Law of Large Numbers: Our Bodies | Sculpture Center
2021 21 March 2022In this video Rindon Johnson gives an insight into his artistic works, which were created on the occasion of the exhibition Law of Large Numbers: Our Bodies (2021) at the SculptureCenter in New York.continue reading -
Rindon Johnson | A Discussion hosted by Chisenhale Gallery and Afterall’s Black Atlantic Museum
2022 21 March 2022The video shows a January 2022 discussion with Rindon Johnson, cultural theorist Dr. Ramon Amaro and artist, writer and 'Afterall' editor Adjoa. Hosted by Chisenhale Gallery and the Black Atlantic Museum by 'Afterall'.continue reading