Hauser and Wirth- Rashid Johnson

The collection 'Stranger' displayed at Hauser and Wirth, Somerset features a range of paintings, sculpture, installation and drawings using a wide variety of media types. Johnson explores art history, literature, philosophy and his own personal cultural identity within the collection. The exhibition itself takes its title and inspiration from the essay 'Stranger in the village' by James Baldwin which recounts his experience of himself, an African-American man, living in Switzerland. 

The majority of the collection were impressionate large scale canvases using a mixture of collage and painted motif overlay. Earthy tones are contrasted with vibrant tropical green botanical forms and the repetitive occurrence of tribal masks. These draw attention to the black, expressive and somewhat aggressive marks which give hints to primal and wild connotations. 

The installations featured in the threshing barn seemed eclectic in style; like an arranged and considered chaos. Large leaved plants, all deep green in colour, were arranged in scandi-style industrial grids, contradicting the soft malleable sculptures made from shea butter. The contrast between neutral/natural and industrial/harsh became increasingly apparent, the more you explored the atmospheric arrangement of considered objects.  

The Gardens were an exhibition in themselves. Meticulously created by renowned designer Piet Oudolf, every inch of the idyllic landscape was covered in exotic plant species creating a dreamlike outcome.