Some of you may know that I attended UCLA for graduate school from 2000-2003. What you may not know is that I attended UCLA to specifically work with Lari Pittman, whose work I first encountered (and was blown away by) in a show at The Whitney Museum in 1998, while on a field trip with my classmates from MassArt where I also attended, and at that time was finishing up my BFA in Painting ( Sharon being my teacher twice!!)
The Hammer Museum at UCLA is presenting the most comprehensive retrospective of Mr. Pittman’s work to date, titled LARI PITTMAN:DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
(as I was writing the title of the show, it dawned on me the weight of it… as his student, and a follower of his work, Lari is nothing less then DECLARATIVE, his work is masterful, and demands respect. He worked through difficult times, and with difficult subject matter. I feel lucky to have worked with him!
Here are some images for you to enjoy…
I was also able to attend a conversation between Lari and Curator Connie Butler, worth a watch!
I love the space and use of materials in the one on wood. I would love to see these in person. Thanks. John Suro.
His early work is quite sculptural, and a bit more raw. I encourage you to dig deeper into his practice, and how content is executed in the materials and imagery.
I found Larry Pitman’s comments about finding hope in deep secularism to be very inspiring.
my gosh… me too! And when he says “there isn’t a spiritual bone in my body”…
my feelings all of a sudden felt validated. He speaks with such conviction!