From the California African American Museum:
Robert Pruitt, Supreme Lover, 2017. Charcoal, Conté, and coffee on paper, 84 x 60 inches. Courtesy the artist and Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Seattle., Image Credit: CAAM
Robert Pruitt: Devotion
Exhibition On View Through February 17, 2019
Through drawing, sculpture, animation, and photography, Houston– born, New York–based artist Robert Pruitt illuminates connections between spiritual traditions, fictional narratives, and technology and investigates how black identity can reside at the intersection of these arenas. In his first major museum exhibition in Los Angeles, Pruitt reconnects with the religious traditions of his upbringing and explores the theme of devotion, specifically religious practices carried out with fervor and dedication. Drawings are presented as a set of sacred images, sculptures act as ceremonial objects, and an audio component—created in collaboration with trumpeter, composer, and rapper Jawwaad Taylor—suffuses the space with an introspective feeling. The exhibition incorporates a selection of works from CAAM’s permanent collection by artists who have influenced Pruitt, including Charles White and John Biggers. These additional objects also reference spirituality, and they speak to Pruitt’s connections to Los Angeles’s African American art community and to various artists from the American South.
This exhibition is curated by Mar Hollingsworth, Visual Arts Curator and Program Manager.
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