Lari Pittman
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
Here’s a photo of the Lari Pittman painting that I saw at MCA in Chicago, titled “Untitled #14.” These colors are darker and cooler than I remember. There is something about the way Lari composes his paintings, flattening things out and tying them together with design that feels familiar to the visual equations I’m composing. He’s much more concerned with filling every inch of space on his canvas than I am, and obviously using a much wider pallatte than mine. I’m not actually suggesting that my work is like his in any way at all, but it’s interesting to look at someone else’s work and “feel” they engage a similar analytic approach to solving space issues.
It’s ridiculous to even post the image here, since all the detail gets lost, allowing no room for nuance. The figure in the middle is at least life-size, but there’s really no way to suggest the actual scale without seeing it in person… Oh what the hell, go get in the car. We’re gonna all go to Chicago.