Gray is pleased to participate in Frieze Masters with Seeing in the Dark, a pivotal series of unique photographs by Rashid Johnson.
In this early series, Johnson renders portraits of the homeless people he came to know as a young artist working out of his studio in downtown Chicago. The artist's subjects are not merely photographed but rather seen, treated, and depicted with dignity, their names serving as titles for each individual work. Working in 1998-99, just as digital photography was replacing the chemistry of analog, Johnson employed antiquated nineteenth-century photographic techniques, including gelatin silver and Van Dyke Brown printing processes, and conceptually layered photograms with symbolic elements such as black-eyed peas and chicken bones. This series of unique photographic works is perhaps the earliest example of Johnson's use of material as a conceptual framework.
In the decades since, Johnson's distinct materials and methods—as well as his powerful voice—have drawn acclaim, particularly for his contribution to placing the African-American experience squarely and permanently into the public discourse of the twenty-first century.

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