Rashid Johnson in the studio with a work from his series Anxious Red Paintings. Photograph by Sheree Hovsepian
Rashid Johnson is a cult superstar among contemporary artists, inexorably leading the cultural narrative. His wife Sheree Hovsepian, herself an acclaimed artist, photographs him for LUX at their New York home, while Millie Walton speaks with him about culture, identity and the future
Chicago-born artist Rashid Johnson is on his ?daily constitutional? around his neighbourhood in Long Island, New York where he lives with his wife Sheree Hovsepian (also an artist), and his son Julius. We?re speaking on the phone and occasionally, the whoosh of passing cars, birdsong and the artist?s breathing filter down through the speaker. As for many of us during lockdown, walking has become a vital addition to the artist?s daily routine that normally involves him being in the studio from 9am until 3pm. Follow LUX on Instagram: luxthemagazine
During those hours, Johnson says he is not always actively making art, but it is the time he commits to ?laying [his] creativity bare? you can?t just wait for it to happen, you have to show up and work. I get a lot of joy from making art, and I say joy specifically because I don?t really know how to participate with happiness or what that is, but I also experience a lot of frustration and disappointment. All of those things feed into my project and why I?m doing it.?
Portrait of Rashid Johnson by Sheree Hovsepian
I wonder how this period of p...