Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers
Edited by Naomi Beckwith and Andrea Karnes
Contributions by Nana Adusei-Poku, Naomi Beckwith, Hendrik Folkerts, Andrea Karnes, Tiona Nekkia McClodden, Odili Donald Odita, and Kevin Quashie
Designed by Content Object: Kimberly Varella, Art Direction and Design; Gabrielle Pulgar, Production Designer
Bodonia-bound hardcover, 256 pages
Publisher: Guggenheim New York, 2025
ISBN: 978-0-89207-566-9
Dimensions: 8.75 × 12 in.
Production: Jonathan Bowen and Melissa Secondino
Manuscript editor: Andrea Danese
Printing: Verona Libri, Verona, Italy
Designed for the artist Rashid Johnson and his 2025 Guggenheim survey of the same name, this book functions as a hybrid museum catalogue and artist’s book. Alongside scholarly essays and plates, it includes several resting areas—“design interventions” where readers can engage with Johnson’s work in a more contemplative, pre-linguistic way. These sections shift paper and color palettes, crop images closely, experiment with collaging, and pair visuals with recurring literary references, including LeRoi Jones’s 1959 poem that inspired the exhibition’s title.
