Rob Pruitt
dal 15/9/2006 al 13/10/2006
Segnalato da
15/9/2006
Rob Pruitt
Gavin Brown, New York
A new series of large scale paintings
Gavin Brown's enterprise is pleased to present a new series of large scale paintings and sculpture by Rob Pruitt in his fourth exhibition at the gallery.
In a radical departure from previous projects, Pruitt eschews representational and found imagery for bold, gestural abstraction. In a reductive palette of pink and red, Pruitt embarks on a journey through a personal mindscape, passing gestures from Abstract Expressionist masters along the way. The paintings present the two colors in a dialogue evoking their various cultural associations: red as violent and dominating, pink as lovely and demure. The materials employed - silver covered foam insulation panels, enamel paint, and glitter -- suggest the lightness of party decoration and retail display while also acting as a counterpoint to the heroic scale, personal gesture, and historical weight of Abstract Expressionism.
Leaping between subjects and styles like a pop Picasso, Pruitt has acted as a cultural archeologist unearthing our fascination with cultural trends and the systems of meaning that surround them, from our collective obsession with the worlds of Martha Stewart and Paris Hilton, to our collective guilt over environmental destruction, as symbolized by the Panda bear. Now turning his keen cultural eye to the formalism of Abstract Expressionism, Pruitt has created a dual color backdrop for our historical moment. Evoking allegories of war and a melting landscape caused by global warming, Pruitt combines a sincere attention to aesthetic pleasure with a sly and subtle cultural critique creating a Guernica for today.
Pruitt first became a known figure in the art world in the late 1980s as half of Pruitt-Early. Critical acclaim led to a 1992 solo exhibition at Leo Castelli gallery that focused on the commoditization of African-American culture by predominantly white corporate interests. The show was denounced as offensive and racist in the rigid political correctness of the early 1990s, and Pruitt-Early was ostracized from the art world. In 1999 Pruitt re-emerged, gaining international recognition and praise for works that challenged the art world's status quo, American consumer culture, and our endless fascination with glamour.
For further information please contact Madeleine Clare Elish at madeleine@gavinbrown.biz.
Opening reception: Saturday, 16 September 2006, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Gavin Brown
620 greenwich street 10014 New York