In CIRCUMSCRIBE, the first institutional solo show of associate Rindon Johnson in Europe, the artist examines material and conceptual forms of circulation and containment in relation to capital and consumption, privileging language, images, bodies, and technologies. Alongside existing paintings and sculptures, the exhibition features new videos and virtual reality works, a site-specific livestream installation, and a soundtrack produced in collaboration with Milo McBride.

Johnson’s inquiries begin with language and return to it through the titles of his works, each of which emerges through the constant triangulation of poetry, the video or object, and the viewer. For Johnson, language is not supplemental but an integral part of each piece—it is just one of the many found, appropriated, recombined, and composed materials he uses to ask questions about agency and power. In this collision of language, object, and viewer, Johnson explores complex hierarchies that structure our societies, challenging their legitimacy and legibility. He does so by introducing radical subjectivity and intimacy to the work and by indulging in moments of ambiguity and ambivalence. Through language, Johnson draws attention to the often invisible but acute violence that permeates his—and our—lived experience.

When? Where?
31 March to 28 July 2019
Reading with among others Rindon Johnson: 14 July 2019
JULIA STOSCHEK COLLECTION
Schanzenstraße 54
40549 Düsseldorf

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