Lari Pittman:

Lari Pittman was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1952. Pittman received both a BFA (1974) and an MFA (1976) from California Institute of the Arts, Valencia. Inspired by commercial advertising, folk art, and decorative traditions, his meticulously layered paintings transform pattern and signage into luxurious scenes fraught with complexity, difference, and desire. In a manner both visually gripping and psychologically strange, Pittman’s hallucinatory works reference myriad aesthetic styles, from Victorian silhouettes to social realist murals to Mexican “retablos.”

Pittman uses anthropomorphic depictions of furniture, weapons, and animals—loaded with symbolism—to convey themes of romantic love, violence, and mortality. His paintings and drawings are a personal rebellion against rigid, puritanical dichotomies. They demonstrate the complementary nature of beauty and suffering, pain and pleasure—and direct the viewer’s attention to bittersweet experiences and the value of sentimentality in art. Despite subject matter that changes from series to series, Pittman’s deployment of simultaneously occurring narratives and opulent imagery reflects the rich heterogeneity of American society, the artist’s Colombian heritage, and the distorting effects of hyper-capitalism on everyday life.

Pittman has received many awards, including a Pacific Design Center Stars of Design Award (2004); the Skowhegan Medal (2002); and three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (1987, 1989, 1993). He has had major exhibitions at Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (1998); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1996); and Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston (1996). He has participated in the Venice Biennale (2003); Documenta × (1997); and three Whitney Biennial exhibitions (1993, 1995, 1997). Pittman lives and works in Los Angeles.

https://art21.org/artist/lari-pittman/


Lari Pittman’s work Untitled is a mixed media collage on paper. Created by Pittman in the 1970s, the piece is 28 x 24 in, and predominantly consists of black, yellow, gold, and beige. The collage itself depicts the upper portion of a figure leaning into the center of the work, its body created with a simple outline of black made from what is perhaps a thick paint. Where the body is only made up of outlines, through which you can see the background paper, the head is a stark contrast, and acts as a point within the center of the piece to which the viewer's eye is drawn. The figure’s head is made of the same black paint material, though is completely solid; this, as well as the distorted shape, results in an uneven and textured surface that appears similar to that of a rock. Overtop of this lies a viscous transparent material, possibly glue, with which the eyes and the mouth are created, seemingly piped on in globs. The cross next to the head on the wall is once again made of the black paint material used for the body and the head, and remains alone as a simple shape floating in the background, as if it has been hung on a wall. These visuals lie against a background of yellow paper with red dots, and are surrounded by a border of beige littered with black, gold, and white markings, scribbles of ink spaced out in a line. This border begins to appear as a frame for the piece, something which holds the central imagery in a way that resembles a framed portrait. 


Created in the 1970s, at a time when he was attending the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California, Lari Pittman’s untitled work is a precursor to the development that his art would experience throughout his career. Noticeably, this piece differs from his later and current work, which consists of predominantly large-scale paintings that employ symbolism and specific imagery to create layered, complex, and dense layouts of shapes and forms that completely fill the space on the canvas. His work from the 1970s relies less on complex layering, instead making use of symbolism through simplified visuals to showcase meaning. 

In this way, Pittman chose to communicate his subject matter in a more experimental sense, something which can be connected to the time period during which it was created. The rise of conceptual art was significant in contributing to many of the vibrant works that emerged from the 1970s. Figuration was also resurging during this time, as was the practice of combining parts of other objects to create a figure, showcased through Pittman’s use of collaged materials in order to do the same. Layering was also a prevalent practice during this time, with a combination of layering and figuration visible in works by artists such as Sigmar Polke and Francis Picabia; this may have become an inspiration for his later works, which employ layering and patterns. 

The imagery within this particular work is reminiscent of that of framed portraiture, with the portrait itself containing only the figure of a man and a cross, both made of a viscous black material that catches the light and stands out against the paper of the collage. The cross in the background, seemingly hung against the wall behind the figure, lends itself as a symbol of religious imagery. From this, we may assume that the figure in the front has some connection or experience with Christianity; there is also a possibility that this figure may be a representation of a priest or practitioner. 

Visually, the work may be able to be read as a form of criticism of Christianity, This may likely be influenced by elements of his personal history, though Pittman has not particularly specified his thoughts on Christianity or religion. The work does, however, exude a somewhat sullen appearance, with the figure’s head depicted most noticeably as a misshapen form adorned with a frown, resulting in the figure appearing uncertain, unhappy, or unfriendly. The way in which the image is framed by the outer border of the collage lends itself to the interpretation that this is a more personal or familiar image, perhaps supporting the idea that this work is inspired by concepts of religious trauma or religious stress.