Rob Pruitt — Air de Paris Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: April 6 → May 7, 2011

The 
title 
of 
Rob 
Pruitt’s
 third 
solo 
show 
at 
Air
 de 
Paris
 is
 his
name 
— 
just
 that 
and
 no
 more.
 Just
 as 
the 
celebrated,
 much 
sought‐after,
 contemporary 
art
trophy,
 the
 Rob 
Pruitt
 Art
Award,
 also 
takes
 the
 artist’s
 name.



For
 this 
new
 exhibition 
Pruitt 
is
 presenting
 two 
new 
projects.
 His
 new
 series 
of
 paintings
 translates 
this
 season’s 


Ikea
 wall 
art
 into 
lush
oil
 paintings. 

Ikea 
takes
 the 
look
 of 
valuable 
art 
and
 makes 
it 
affordable; 
Pruitt
 brings 
this 
full
 circle 
by
 taking 
the
 mass 
produced 


Ikea 
items 
and 
making
 them
 unique.
 Taking 
a
cue 
from
 Jasper 
Johns 
who 
in 
the 
1950’s 
used 
the 
found 
compositions 
of 
targets, 
American
 flags,
 and
 political
 maps
 of
 the
 United
 States
 as
 a
 location
 for luxurious
 paint
 application,
 Pruitt
 uses 
the 
"original" 


Ikea
 compositions 
as
 a 
starting
point.
 The
 style 
of
 paint
 application
 varies 
from 
heavy 
impasto 
in 
the
 expressionistic 
style 
to 
a
 more
 refined
 photorealistic 
technique 
to 
something
 similar 
to 
the 
more 
humble
 skills 
of
 a
 pastry
 chef 
decorating
 a 
cake.




Among 
the 
oil
 paintings 
are
 anthropomorphic
 cardboard
 robots.
The
 sculptures
 appear
 as 
if
 they 
had
 wandered 
into 
the
 exhibition,
 and 
stand 
before 
the 
paintings
 both 
be mused 
and
 contemplative. 
Their 
eyes
 are
 made 
of 
retrofitted
 shop‐bought
 clocks
 with
 rotating
 pupils
 that
 scan
 the
 room.
 They
 clearly
 share
 DNA
 with
 historic 
works:
 Rauschenberg’s 
Cardboard
 series
 in 
1971‐1972,
 the
 crushed
 car
 works 
of 
John
 Chamberlain, 
and
 Jim
 Henson’s
 Muppets.
 
These
 surrogates 
for
 the 
gallery
 goer 
are 
made 
from 
recycling‐ready,
 logo‐bright
 cardboard
 boxes 
gleaned 
from
 the
 streets 
of 
New
 York 
and 
are
a
 compressed
 litany
 of
 everything
 we
 consume 
as 
a
 society. 
You 
could
 easily
 call 
them 
grotesques.




So
 yeah,
 no 
title, 
just
 Rob 
Pruitt.