In constellations of text and Xerox, Rasheed reconfigures and sabotages knowledge production and belief formation
Brooklyn-based artist Kameelah Janan Rasheed (born 1985) grapples with the poetics-pleasures-politics of Black knowledge production, information technologies and belief formation. Most of all, Rasheed is interested in epistemological ambiguity—incompleteness, information (il)legibility and the use of seemingly error-ridden image and text data. Working primarily with paper and vinyl that she attaches to walls and public spaces, the artist combines text and Xerox images to create what she terms "ecosystems of iterative and provisional projects." In 2020, Rasheed’s two-part installation Are You Reading Closely? became the first artwork to grace the Brooklyn Museum’s historic columned façade.
Based on a 1974 poem of the same name by American writer Lucille Clifton, the title of this book references Rasheed’s ongoing exploration of Black storytelling and Islamic mysticism. Alongside a wealth of reproductions, the volume features a conversation between Rasheed and curator Legacy Russell.
