Antoine’s Organ (2016) is a monumental, immersive multimedia installation by contemporary artist Rashid Johnson, on view as a part of his career-spanning exhibition, A Poem for Deep Thinkers. Serving as a metaphor for the artist’s own brain, the artwork explores complex themes of race, class, yearning, Afrocentric identity, and the subversion of cultural containment.

Named after the classically trained pianist and music producer Antoine Baldwin (also known as Audio BLK), who originally activated the work in its 2016 debut, a piano is hidden at the center of the labyrinthine structure. Throughout the exhibition’s run, musicians perform live improvisations from within the structure. Music floats through the foliage, giving life and cohering community through shared narrative.

Due to limited capacity, we encourage guests to cycle through the gallery during the performance.

About the Performer

Bethany Pickens is an award-winning pianist, composer, educator, and bandleader with a career rooted in tradition and exploration. She began her training under the watchful tutelage of her father, world-class jazz pianist Willie Pickens, Bethany Pickens earned her BS Music Ed degree from the American Conservatory of Music. She has performed and recorded with artists such as Clark Terry, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Branford Marsalis, Patti LaBelle, Josh Groban, and Aretha Franklin. Pickens’s passion for education includes work with the Ravinia Jazz Scholars Program, Jazz Institute of Chicago’s Jazz Masters Residency Program, and 28 years teaching music in Chicago Public Schools. She ended her teaching career at Kenwood Academy High School (her Alma Mater), where she inspired countless young musicians. Pickens serves on the board of the Jazz Institute of Chicago and as Vice President of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club.