Rindon Johnson

overview
Rindon Johnson (2022) | Photo: Clifford Prince King
Rindon Johnson (2022) | Photo: Clifford Prince King

Rindon Johnson (*1990 on the unceded territories of the Ohlone people, San Francisco) 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.

 

Johnson‘s most extensive solo exhibition to date opened 2024 in the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai. His work has been exhibited internationally, most recently at the Bergen Kunsthall in Norway (2025), the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst (2025), the Cultuurcentrum Strombeek in Grimbergen (2025), the 60th Venice Biennale (2024), the Albertinum, Dresden (2022), the Sculpture Center in New York (2021), the Chisenhale Gallery in London (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. 

 

 

→ CV Rindon Johnson
→ further information about the artist's oeuvre in the editorial

works
  • Rindon Johnson, Come rain or wind, snow or hail, thunder or stifling heat, I shall go, you won't have to carry me on your back as is traditional with this type of crossing, on the contrary I could even carry you a little if necessary, the demon does not stop, the demon compels. My sovereign beauty, my sovereign good, the air here is as rough as the skin of a peach and the sky is acid against the ridges of the hills, big eyes fluffy ears programming socks and silly memes, a string of dykes appeared naked on their motorcycles their skin gleaming black or golden and one after the other they rode over the hill disappearing into a flowering bush, take care there's no rose without a thorn., 2026
    Come rain or wind, snow or hail, thunder or stifling heat, I shall go, you won't have to carry me on your back as is traditional with this type of crossing, on the contrary I could even carry you a little if necessary, the demon does not stop, the demon compels. My sovereign beauty, my sovereign good, the air here is as rough as the skin of a peach and the sky is acid against the ridges of the hills, big eyes fluffy ears programming socks and silly memes, a string of dykes appeared naked on their motorcycles their skin gleaming black or golden and one after the other they rode over the hill disappearing into a flowering bush, take care there's no rose without a thorn., 2026
  • Rindon Johnson, Do something! Pale Fire (can you see things that have never been imagined) something to gain, try to force a note beyond its power, dogs in the dirt, now I’m shouting, change, constant change, what’s yours is looking for you., 2026
    Do something! Pale Fire (can you see things that have never been imagined) something to gain, try to force a note beyond its power, dogs in the dirt, now I’m shouting, change, constant change, what’s yours is looking for you., 2026
  • Rindon Johnson, Fog, Fog, Father, Father, why hast thou forsaken me, acceleration is demonic, the demons don't tell you what to do or what's going to happen next, they compel, Manastabal, my guide, utters a laugh that grates unpleasantly on my nerves, could we be in Hell already, but no I see only dust and whirling eddies of wind around me, you get the accelerationism you deserve., 2026
    Fog, Fog, Father, Father, why hast thou forsaken me, acceleration is demonic, the demons don't tell you what to do or what's going to happen next, they compel, Manastabal, my guide, utters a laugh that grates unpleasantly on my nerves, could we be in Hell already, but no I see only dust and whirling eddies of wind around me, you get the accelerationism you deserve., 2026
  • Rindon Johnson, Manastabal, my guide, walks ahead of me with her hands in the pockets of her jeans, the space is flat, flat enough to reveal the circularity of the planet on the horizon, the sand passes in fine hard blades over the beaten surfaces, what comes through comes as protocol and is indifferent all that is serious melts into cute, the eagle falls to the ground with a clanking noise, Manastabal, my guide, normally static in appearance has relaxed limbs and lively muscles, I have difficulty in attracting her attention, quite suddenly she says you will have to find the words to describe this place lest everything you see suddenly disappears, the egg you already are keeps becoming an egg again., 2026
    Manastabal, my guide, walks ahead of me with her hands in the pockets of her jeans, the space is flat, flat enough to reveal the circularity of the planet on the horizon, the sand passes in fine hard blades over the beaten surfaces, what comes through comes as protocol and is indifferent all that is serious melts into cute, the eagle falls to the ground with a clanking noise, Manastabal, my guide, normally static in appearance has relaxed limbs and lively muscles, I have difficulty in attracting her attention, quite suddenly she says you will have to find the words to describe this place lest everything you see suddenly disappears, the egg you already are keeps becoming an egg again., 2026
  • Rindon Johnson, The blow renders a hollow metallic sound, the eagle falls to the ground with a clanking noise its wings agitated by mechanical jerks while the jammed automaton voice slowly repeats the same phrases, the packet keeps changing in the wrapper, the demon ride continues, there's so many drivers it's not a car, the eagle was a robot all along and we didn't know, the bourlababu blows, the appendages multiply, the leashes pull, the eagle was a robot all along., 2026
    The blow renders a hollow metallic sound, the eagle falls to the ground with a clanking noise its wings agitated by mechanical jerks while the jammed automaton voice slowly repeats the same phrases, the packet keeps changing in the wrapper, the demon ride continues, there's so many drivers it's not a car, the eagle was a robot all along and we didn't know, the bourlababu blows, the appendages multiply, the leashes pull, the eagle was a robot all along., 2026
  • Rindon Johnson, Whether you like it or not, I have a hoarse voice, the egg you already are keeps becoming an egg again, the survival occurs in the aggregate, baby turtles racing to the beach while the birds and snakes feast, two thousand four hundred years, the ulliphant is toothless and much good may it do him, the bicephalics raise their two heads at once, dust returns to dust, the long march of escaped women continues., 2026
    Whether you like it or not, I have a hoarse voice, the egg you already are keeps becoming an egg again, the survival occurs in the aggregate, baby turtles racing to the beach while the birds and snakes feast, two thousand four hundred years, the ulliphant is toothless and much good may it do him, the bicephalics raise their two heads at once, dust returns to dust, the long march of escaped women continues., 2026
  • Rindon Johnson, 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
    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
  • Rindon Johnson, 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
    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
  • Reverse T-shaped freestanding painting with a wooden frame and base and abstract pink and faded blue crayon marks on a dark background, against a white wall Rindon Johnson 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 Ash wood, leather, crayon, oil, colored pencil, acrylic and wax 188.5 x 100 x 24.5 cm 74 1/4 x 39 3/8 x 9 5/8 inches
    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
  • Rindon Johnson, Coeval Proposition #1: Tear down so as to make flat with the Ground or The *Trans America Building DISMANTLE EVERYTHING, 2021
    Coeval Proposition #1: Tear down so as to make flat with the Ground or The *Trans America Building DISMANTLE EVERYTHING, 2021
  • Rindon Johnson, For example, collect the water just to see it pool there above your head. Don’t be a Fucking Hero!, 2021
    For example, collect the water just to see it pool there above your head. Don’t be a Fucking Hero!, 2021
  • Room with a dark blue, green and orange stained glass window made up of 3 panels against a plain wall, a brick wall behind it and a wooden bench in front of it with a stack of papers on it. Rindon Johnson Clattering, 2021 Stained glass work (3 panels) and ash wood bench Glass work: 360 x 158 cm 141 3/4 x 62 1/4 inches Bench: 200 x 49 x 80 cm 78 3/4 x 19 1/4 x 31 1/2 inches
    Clattering, 2021
  • Rindon Johnson, This canon fodder is no bother, 2023
    This canon fodder is no bother, 2023
  • Crinkle crankle brick wall in hues of red and brown, with parts of a wooden railing structure and a window behind it. Rindon Johnson 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 Brick Dimensions variable Edition of 3
    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
  • Rindon Johnson, Clattering, 2021
    Clattering, 2021
  • Parallelogram ash-coloured wooden window frame on white wall and view of grey building across. Rindon Johnson 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 Ash wood Dimensions variable
    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
  • Partial view of wooden railing structure with vertical and horizontal wooden balance beams running through it. Rindon Johnson 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 Ash wood 420 x 67.5 x 16.5 cm 165 3/8 x 26 5/8 x 6 1/2 inches
    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
  • Five screens streaming one evening and four daytime airport scenes on a plain corner wall. Rindon Johnson 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 5 TV screens, ATC live streams and ash wood bench Screen dimensions variable Bench: 200 x 49 x 80 cm 78 3/4 x 19 1/4 x 31 1/2 inches
    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
  • Rindon Johnson, Cambrian slippery wetness, I’ve never looked at anything so long, and in which of us people does the common matter rise?, 2021
    Cambrian slippery wetness, I’ve never looked at anything so long, and in which of us people does the common matter rise?, 2021
  • Rindon Johnson, Diver, 2022
    Diver, 2022
  • Rindon Johnson, May the moon meet us apart, may the sun meet us together, 2021
    May the moon meet us apart, may the sun meet us together, 2021
  • Rindon Johnson, Open: I want it to say, procession. Turn around and have a look at the river. Crocodiles have red eyes at night. Have a look at the river, now pretend you’re me. Now ask yourself., 2023
    Open: I want it to say, procession. Turn around and have a look at the river. Crocodiles have red eyes at night. Have a look at the river, now pretend you’re me. Now ask yourself., 2023
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