Rob Pruitt

Pruitt translates personal experience into broader political statements, using a visual language that is both eclectic and ironic. His works often strive to achieve a sense of spectacle while retaining a sense of social, cultural or artistic critique. He is perhaps best for his large-scale canvases featuring pandas rendered in black and white glitter. Pruitt describes his own work as populist, and has said that his pieces are “basically blown-up versions of dining table craft projects”. He continues, “I’ve really enjoyed letting the world know that not everything is so mystified or so regulated to expertise—that you can make something really beautiful with a little ingenuity and some supplies from Michael’s”.

He has been the subject of several individual exhibitions at major international institutions such as Kunsthalle, Zürich (2017); Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit (2015); Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston (2012); Guggenheim Museum (2010); Tate Modern (2009); Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati (2001).He has also participated in numerous group shows at Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris (2020); Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (2018); Museum of the city of New York (2017); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2017); Palais de Tokyo (2010); Fondation François Pinault, Punta Della Dogana & Palazzo Grassi, Venice (2009); MoMA PS1 (2006); Museum of Contemporary Art, Washington, D.C (2000).

 Represented by Air de Paris, France.