Lari Pittman
Like you, expansive but capable of pining away, 1995
Donated by the Zabludowicz Collection
Pittman combines his imagery with heavy paint and vivid …
A major figure in the Los Angeles art world, Lari Pittman produces large-scale, graphic paintings whose surfaces are populated with colorful, clashing imagery. Pittman worked as an interior designer for a decade before turning to painting full-time, and his work conveys a fascination with decoration and artifice. “A reflective, sensational surface is still a conduit for meaning,” he has said. An array of objects such as teapots, Russian easter eggs, and musical instruments fill his images, sometimes radiating out from a central diamond-shape or a mandala-like circle. Rather than studying his subjects closely, Pittman works from memory—sometimes on a group of paintings simultaneously—investing the ornamental with lofty themes such as life, death, love, and sex.
Donated by the Zabludowicz Collection
Pittman combines his imagery with heavy paint and vivid colour. Many of his works focus on personal rebellion against puritanical dichotomies, which tend to attack gay relationships and marriage. The artist’s images explore the contrast between the beauty and pleasure of love, and …
A major figure in the Los Angeles art world, Lari Pittman produces large-scale, graphic paintings whose surfaces are populated with colorful, clashing imagery. Pittman worked as an interior designer for a decade before turning to painting full-time, and his work conveys a fascination with decoration and artifice. “A reflective, sensational surface is still a conduit for meaning,” he has said. An array of objects such as teapots, Russian easter eggs, and musical instruments fill his images, sometimes radiating out from a central diamond-shape or a mandala-like circle. Rather than studying his subjects closely, Pittman works from memory—sometimes on a group of paintings simultaneously—investing the ornamental with lofty themes such as life, death, love, and sex.
