Suicide Painting XXVI

Rob Pruitt
Suicide Painting XXVI
2014
Acrylic on linen
274.3 x 205.7 cm

Born in the U.S., Rob Pruitt is a Post Conceptual artist who investigates the interesection between everyday experiences and socio-political contexts.

The grey gradation encompassed with the infusion of orange, yellow, light green and blue, the pastel coloured outline has a duality of a painting and frame. The vividness of the outline accelerates the darkness of the grey, and the colour of the work changes depending on from which a viewer sees and the brightness of a space.
The squared gross surface looks like a TV screen so much so the grey gradation reusables TV colour bars, implying nostalgia for life in the 80-90s.
Contrarily, the title Suicide Painting contrasts with the image of TV - the entertainment of everyday activities, questioning the boundary between life and death.

Although Pruitt often depicts animals and portraits relatively explicit in his work, this painting is abstract - the blurred grey becomes a mirror of psychic indecisiveness and indeterminacy, questioning the mode of identity in the digital age.

(Commentary & Translation: Asako Ujita)