[1][2][3] Johnson first received critical attention in 2001 at the age of 24, when his work was included in Freestyle (2001) curated by Thelma Golden at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

[20] Johnson's most controversial exhibition was entitled Chickenbones and Watermelon Seeds: The African American Experience as Abstract Art.

[23] He also exhibited his homeless men work, including George (1999), in Atlanta, Georgia as part of the National Black Arts Festival at City Gallery East in July and August 2002.

[28][29] In conjunction with the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Rashid Johnson exhibited The Evolution of the Negro Political Costume in December 2004.

Johnson used photos, video and site-specific installation to study escapist tendencies through often with a sense of humor that bordered on the absurd.

In this forum, Chicago Tribune art critic Alan G. Artner said Johnson's audio selection imposed his artistry on all the other exhibits since he chose a rap song combined with a blunt video.

He described Johnson's exploration of the politics of race as "sloganeering or cute self-advertising" in his two-dimensional works, and his apolitical three-dimensional installations as "glib and superficial" representations.

[34] Artner also derided Johnson's short video contribution to the Art Institute of Chicago's Fool's Paradise exhibition as a "conflation of gospel singing with beat boxing ... that says nothing worth saying about race.

[36] The following year, after obtaining his master's degree, he moved to the Lower East Side in New York City,[11] where he taught at the Pratt Institute.

[38] In an ensemble 2006 showing entitled Scarecrow, Johnson exhibited a life-sized photographic nude self-portrait that was supposed to be menacing and abrasive, but that was perceived as interesting and amusing.

[39] His Summer 2007 "Stay Black and Die" work in The Color Line exhibition at the Jack Shainman Gallery left one art critic from The New York Times wondering whether he was viewing a warning or exhortation.

[42] The exhibit was described as "a fictional secret society of African-American intellectuals, a cross between Mensa and the Masons" that was a challenge to either condemn or endorse.

[51] At Bonhams Post-War and Contemporary Art Sale in London of June 2022, Johnson's wax and spray enamel work "Carver", (2012).

It was announced in 2018 that Johnson had tapped playwright Suzan Lori-Parks to adapt the novel into a screenplay,[54][55] and cast Ashton Sanders in the lead role of Bigger Thomas.

[59] Jennifer Vineyard wrote in the New York Times that the movie "isn't a masterpiece" but "has much to admire", citing its "striking visual compositions", "tense atmosphere", and "Sanders' nuanced performance".

"[61] Johnson won "Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture (Television)" at the 51st NAACP Image Awards for his work on Native Son.

Johnson uses "alchemy, divination, astronomy, and other sciences that combine the natural and spiritual worlds" to augment black history.

According to a Columbia College Chicago publication, Johnson works in a variety of media with physical and visual materials that have independent artistic significance and symbolism but that are augmented by their connections to black history.

[34] Seattle Post-Intelligencer writer Regina Hackett described Johnson as an artist who avoids the struggles of black people and explores their strengths, while inserting himself as subject in his "aesthetic aspirations" through a variety of forums.

[21] In addition to portrait photography, Johnson is known for his use of a 19th-century process[21][12] that uses Van Dyke brown, a transparent organic pigment, and exposure to sunlight.

His notable solo shows include The Rise and Fall of the Proper Negro (2003), Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago;[68] The Production of Escapism (2005), Indianapolis Contemporary;[69] Smoke and Mirrors (2009), SculptureCenter, New York;[70] Rashid Johnson: Message to Our Folks (2012-2013), originating at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago;[71] The gathering (2013), Hauser & Wirth, Zurich;[72] Anxious Men (2015), Drawing Center, New York;[73] Provocations: Rashid Johnson (2018), Institute for Contemporary Art, Richmond, Virginia;[74] and The Crisis (2021), Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, New York.