Lari Pittman Exhibition
Gladstone Gallery (Chelsea 24th Street)
This event has ended.
Known for densely worked compositions that marry bold graphic design with historical modes of figuration, Pittman's distinctive mix of cultural signs range from the social to the domestic. In his new body of work, Pittman explores the tradition of vanitas painting, which came to fruition in Northern Europe, particularly the Dutch and Flemish regions, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Taken from the Latin meaning emptiness, these still-life paintings usually incorporated skulls, burning candles, cut flowers and other objects that mark the passage of time and the transience of life. Pittman structures his modern-day nature morte around diaphanous bubbles, frying eggs, vegetables, splashing kettles, and strings of light bulbs. His day-glo cornucopias, equally warm portraits of domestic life, take on a more thoughtful aspect when seen as arrangements made for a fleeting life.
[Image: Lari Pittman "Untitled #2" (2008) Cel-vinyl, acrylic and lacquer spray over gessoed canvas over wood panel 102 x 88 in.]
Media
Schedule
from October 24, 2008 to November 30, 2008