Lari Pittman: A Decorated Chronology

Published by Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis on the occasion of Lari Pittman's exhibition from May 24, 2013–August 11, 2013. Details: Paperback. 103 pages. 9 x 11.5 inches As the centerpiece of its summer 2013 season, CAM presented the first solo U.S. museum exhibition of Los Angeles-based artist Lari Pittman in nearly twenty years. One of the most preeminent artists working today as well as a longtime educator, Pittman is a major influence on contemporary painting. Comprising thirty large-scale paintings and a twenty-four-part works on paper series, the exhibition primarily features newer work from the mid-2000s to the present. Pittman’s work is internationally celebrated for its use of exuberant color and painstaking detail to address contentious subjects such as sexuality, desire, and violence. His paintings combine a visual breathlessness with a sophisticated formal logic to intertwine the personal and the political. “Lari Pittman: A Decorated Chronology” illustrates and celebrates the development of Pittman’s expansive practice over the past thirty years. About the artist Lari Pittman, (b. 1952, Los Angeles, CA, lives and works in Los Angeles, CA) received a BFA from California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA in 1974 and an MFA from California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA in 1976. Solo exhibitions of his work have been organized at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA (2019) and Museum of Contemporary Art St. Louis, St. Louis, MO (2013). Pittman has participated in multiple biennial exhibitions, including documenta X, Kassel, Germany (1997) and the 1997, 1995, 1993, and 1985 Whitney Biennial exhibitions. Pittman’s work is in numerous public and private collections.