Rashid Johnson Mentor 2021
Each year, Reiffers Art Initiatives invites a major figure of the contemporary art world to become the mentor of an emerging artist of the French scene. The mentor chooses the laureate of the mentorship program among the selection of emerging artists proposed by the artistic committee. This mentorship will give rise to an exhibition during the FIAC.
Mentor 2021
Rashid Johnson
Born in Chicago in 1977, Rashid Johnson is amongst an influential group of contemporary American artists whose work uses a wide range of media to explore themes of art history, individual cultural identities, philosophy, materiality and critical history.
After studying in the photography department at the Art Institute of Chicago, Rashid Johnson’s practice quickly expanded to encompass a wide range of media including sculpture, painting, drawing, filmmaking, and installation, producing a complex multidisciplinary practice that incorporates diverse materials rich in symbolism and personal history. Johnson’s work is known for its narrative integration of a pointed range of everyday materials and objects, often associated with his childhood and frequently referencing collective aspects of African-American intellectual history and cultural identity.
To date, Rashid Johnson has incorporated elements as diverse as CB radio, shea butter, literature, record covers, golden rocks, black soap and tropical plants. Many of Rashid Johnson’s works convey occult and mystical rhythms: evoking his desire to transform and expand the scope of association of each object included in the reception process.
“I wanted my art to deal with very formal concerns and to deal with very material concerns, and to deal with antecedents and art history, which for me go very far beyond just the influence of African-American artists.”
Rashid Johnson
Young talent Mentorship 2021
Kenny Dunkan
Among the selection of young talents proposed by the committee, he chose to support the French artist of Guadeloupean origin Kenny Dunkan
This emerging artist of the French scene regularly draws from the visual culture of the Caribbean and in particular from carnivals, to develop a work of art that addresses the French colonial heritage and the persistence of its modes of representation. The latter being closest to the artistic practice and message conveyed in Johnson’s work, the choice was an obvious one.
This support culminated in an exhibition at the Studio des Acacias during the FIAC 2021 in Paris, where Kenny Dunkan exhibited the works created during the mentorship.
This support culminated in an exhibition at the Studio des Acacias during the FIAC 2021 in Paris, where Kenny Dunkan exhibited the works created during the mentorship.
“I have too often apologized for being who I am. Because of my skin color, my sexuality… Today, I no longer want to apologize for being the person I am.”
Kenny Dunkan
The program
THE MENTOR
The mentor shares his experience and advice with the young talent in an ongoing intergenerational dialogue.
The selection of the young talents is made exclusively by the members of the artistic committee but the final choice is made by the mentor, to designate the winner of the mentorship program.
THE LAUREATE
Each year, the members of the artistic committee present the mentor with a selection of young artists whose visual and conceptual work has caught their attention.
During the mentorship, which lasts several months, the two artists exchange their respective practices, in a process of opening up and transmitting their artistic know-how.
THE EXHIBITION
The result of the work done under the mentorship is visible in the form of an exhibition presented each year in Paris in October, during the Fiac.
The FIAC is a key moment in Paris, bringing together major actors in contemporary art, to present and discover the creations of the mentorship winner.