Films
‘The Hikers’ in Performance: Revisiting the Black Body in Space
Rashid Johnson and Choreographer Claudia Schreier on adapting their work for the gallery setting.
‘My work has consistently been filled with contradictions. Contradictions tend to be the thing that makes an artist’s practice most interesting. If you fulfill what your expectations are you’ve probably done something wrong.’—Rashid Johnson
On the occasion of Rashid Johnson’s exhibition, ‘The Hikers’, live performances were staged over two weekends in December and January at Hauser & Wirth New York, 22nd Street. Adapted from the film from which the exhibition takes its' title, the performances respond directly to the artist’s ‘Anxious Men’ series. Directed by Rashid Johnson, Choreographed by Claudia Schreier, and Produced by Alex Ernst this work expresses the psychological and physical consequences of life in the naturally challenging and too often unjust modern world. Featured in these performances are Lloyd Knight and Leslie Andrea Williams, members of the Martha Graham Dance Company, and pianist Antonie Baldwin. – ‘The Hikers’, debuted at the Aspen Art Museum, accompanied by a dance performance, and was subsequently shown at Museo Tamayo, Mexico, earlier this year.