Umar Rahid (Frohawk Two Feathers): The Messier Objects

Johannes Vogt is pleased to present “The Messier Objects. (You Get The Gods You Deserve). Part 3 of The Americas. 1795," the first solo exhibition by Los Angeles–based artist Umar Rashid (Frohawk Two Feathers) at the gallery. The show brings together recent paintings, drawings, sculptures, and tile works as a continuation of Rashid’s narrative incorporating the historical fiction centered on the Kingdom of Harlem.

Rashid's conceptual roadmap of "The Messier Objects" is a tapestry of events depicting the creation and subsequent dissolution of the fictitious Kingdom of Harlem (1790-1795). The title is in reference to astronomical objects that can be seen from the earth, as defined by the French astronomer Charles Messier in the late 18th century. At the same time, it is a play on the modern slang term for a complicated and troublesome affair. Rashid further notes that the show applies the "concept of apparent magnitude to identify the brightest objects/people that can be observed by the naked/untrained eye. Often times the brightest stars attract the most people but that phenomenon is based less on their worth and more on their flashiness."