No Longer Endangered, but Vulnerable
Rob Pruitt
MASSIMODECARLO is delighted to present No longer endangered, but vulnerable, Rob Pruitt’s second presentation in Hong Kong and eighth personal exhibition with the gallery since 2012.
Pruitt’s vocabulary is straightforward, minimalist, and above all, highly relatable. Drawing on everyday iconography with sardonic irony, he confronts the viewer with the paradox of modern-day existence: one where the line between hope and dystopia is harder and harder to grasp.
Despite the glitter, the tone of the exhibition is far from lighthearted: indeed, the status of the panda, which was recently declared “no longer endangered, but vulnerable”, echoes like a cautionary tale reminding us that the panda – and everything that it represents - is far from safe from further threats.
The Panda is a highly symbolic animal: not only was it adopted by China as its national animal, but this giant, fluffy bear acquired particularly iconic status in international diplomacy in the 1940’s, in what became known as “Panda Diplomacy” - China gifting giant pandas to other countries in highly symbolic gestures of concord, goodwill and friendship.
The Panda paintings celebrate this world of contradictions: on the one hand the bright, colorful glittery portraits of these animals in their natural habitat, depicted in glitter to enhance their innocence and endearing expressions; on the other, they are a stark reminder of the tensions and dangers that we are grappling with both with increasing environmental catastrophes, as well as the precarity of our current geopolitical order. Vulnerability after danger should not be mistaken for safety.
Artist
Rob Pruitt was born in Washington D.C. in 1964 and studied at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington D.C. and Parsons School of Design in New York. He lives and works in New York.
Since the early 1990s, Rob Pruitt’s risk-taking investigations into American popular culture have taken many forms. From his notorious Cocaine Buffet (1998) and glitter portraits of Pandas or the significant Suicide Paintings series, Pruitt’s works are a surreal and extravagant interpretation of the pop world, a kaleidoscopic look towards mass culture by exploring the multiples aspects and the paradoxes of our present time.
Throughout his career, Rob Pruitt has fine-tuned his ability to express nuanced ideas about culture and society through the re-interpretation of common objects and materials, all filtered through a sense of humour and irony. With his Mask series, the artist continues his pursuit of depicting the complexities of personality and emotions. The facial gestures indeed are cut into the canvas with a razor - destructive and creative at the same time, these gestures are married to an accumulation of gradients, patterns, and prints to create a character