Rob Pruitt's latest show Pattern and Degradation is so huge even Gavin Brown's newly (and vastly) expanded gallery can't hold it all. Neighboring Maccarone joins GBE in presenting several of Pruitt's fun, irreverent, Pop pieces.
Inspired by an unlikely source - the Amish - Pruitt's works reference Rumspringa, a term that translates to "running around" and is the name of the Amish tradition when the youth (approximately 16-year-olds) are allowed to temporarily experience the outside, non-Amish world and decide whether they want to stay there and abandon their strict culture altogether or return to their families and the community and lifestyle they grew up with. During this period it's reasonably assumed that the Amish kids "engage in rebellious behavior, defying their culture's strict prohibitions, [and] indulging in the excesses of mainstream American culture" (from show's press release). Pruitt basically lives in a "Permanent Rumspringa," always living freely, rebelliously, and playfully.
Pattern and Degradation is loaded with a healthy dose of free-spiritedness, humor, and abandon. Pruitt really out-did himself and produced several new, varied series that explore American pop culture including: spray-painted works inspired by Amish quilts; self-portraits featuring the artist in various funny and "conflicting personae;" silk-screened t-shirt paintings referencing pop culture icons like Malcolm McLaren, Mickey Mouse, Debbie Harry, and artists Dan Colen, Jasper Johns, and Pruitt's partner Jonathan Horowitz; rich abstracts based on "this season's Ikea wall art;" sculptures of giant tires stacked and filled with plants, flowers, or snackfoods like pretzels, Oreos, and assorted candies; anthropomorphized "monsters" made from bundles of flattened cardboard boxes accessorized with shoes and giant googly eyes; and of course, large-scale, patterned paintings of Pruitt's iconic and adorable pandas.
As if creating all the diverse, whimsical and delightful works featured in Pattern and Degradation wasn't enough, Pruitt is also organizing his second annual Art Awards which will be held at Webster Hall in December. Learn more at Gavinbrown.biz. Through October 23rd. Below are my pics from Gavin Brown. I'll post my pics from Maccarone tomorrow.
Left to right: TBC, 2010; OK?, 2010
Rob Pruitt's T-Shirt Collection: Double Double Rainbow (What Does It Mean?); Copulating Pandas, both 2010
Rob Pruitt's T-Shirt Collection: You Are Mickey, 2010 (far left); Cocaine, 2010 (far right)
Rob Pruitt's T-Shirt Collection: Snowflakes; Dan Colen; Malcolm McLaren; Jasper Johns, Green, all 2010
Exquisite Self Portrait, Cocksure, 2010; People Feeders, 2010
Back wall, left to right: Panda Pattern: The Scream; Panda Pattern: Zebra; Panda Pattern: The Climb. Foreground: People Feeders, all 2010
Back wall: Rob Pruitt's T-Shirt Collection: Cheap Trick (top left); I Love Jonathan Horowitz (bottom right). Foreground: People Feeders, all 2010
Back wall, left to right: Exquisite Self-Portrait: Princess Me; Exquisite Self-Portrait: Handsome; Exquisite Self-Portrait: The Naturalist; Exquisite Self-Portrait: The Surrealist, all 2010. Foreground: The Congregation, 2010
Panda Pattern: Woody Allen, 2010
Back wall, left to right: Rumspringa Quilt: Fire, 2010; Rumspringa Quilt: Broken Dishes (Pastel), 2010; Rumspringa Quilt: Triangles (Green, Yellow, Red, Blue, Black, White), 2010. Foreground: TBC (wooden benches), 2010
Rumspringa Quilt: Elvis, 2010
Rumspringa Quilt: Double Double Rainbow, 2010
"Pruitt basically lives in a "Permanent Rumspringa," always living freely, rebelliously, and playfully." Really? I mean have you spoken to him? Does he really think he is an Amish wannbe teen? What does he know about being an Amish teen much less Amish period? So what he is gay. Is this something to be proud of? Can I be proud of liking pussy? Should he be proud of also being white? Maybe I need to cut back on the beer because I am feeling like Pruitt isn't really that insightful. But being at Gavin Brown he must be. My bad.
Posted by: Frankly | 10/05/2010 at 08:21 PM