Diary
Three Questions for… Rashid Johnson
Rashid Johnson, 2026. Photo: Ed Florance
In the latest installment of Three Questions for—in which we cross-examine some of our favorite cultural figures—we met with Rashid Johnson at this year’s Ursula Weekender at the Fife in Braemar, Scotland.
What book is on your nightstand?
I have to name a few because there are always a couple of things that I'm reading at once. One is Flesh by David Szalay about a young Hungarian man who finds his way through life. I think it's a really beautiful book. The second is a book by the writer Patrick Radden Keefe called London Falling. Patrick is a friend and he's somebody who's written a number of books and articles for The New Yorker. The third is a book called Minor Black Figures by a writer who I'm new to named Brandon Taylor.
What was the last artwork you saw that made a huge impression on you?
Just yesterday, I saw an incredible painting by the London school painter Leon Kossoff. Thinking about how the existential nature of his practice begins to be captured through both the idea of the portrait or the figured character and the impasto addition of paint to the surface. A beautiful small painting of Kossoff’s that was about 31 inches tall, a nude of a woman outlined in green. I thought it was a truly illuminating picture.
Desert Island question, which album would you bring?
The album that I'm bringing is Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. It allows you to have multiple moods. There are things that kind of feel like they represent the morning, things that feel like they represent mid-afternoon and things that feel like they represent the evening. So I would use it as a narrative driver for my day as I climb trees and try to knock down coconuts or whatever else I'm doing on this island.