Beginning Friday, May 3, 2013, the Aspen Art Museum presents the first solo U.S. museum survey of the work of artist Rob Pruitt. The exhibition will be on view through Sunday, July 14, 2013.

Since the early 1990s, Rob Pruitt’s risk-taking investigations into American popular culture have taken many forms. His glitter portraits of pandas show them impersonating a wide range of well-known people, including 1970s rock stars KISS and Hollywood actress Denise Richards, and engaging in activities like hugging, eating, and climbing trees. In other works, the artist produces performances in the form of events such as his ongoing Flea Market and Annual Art Awards. Common throughout Pruitt’s varied body of work is a post-Pop sensibility through which he playfully satirizes the art world and its ambivalent relationship to celebrity and popular culture.

Curated by Aspen Art Museum Nancy and Bob Magoon CEO and Director Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson, Rob Pruitt: An American Folk Artist will feature approximately 30 works that simultaneously chart a path through his diverse oeuvre and stay true to the spirit of disruption that has long been central to his artistic practice. The work assembled in the exhibition illustrates the circumstances and environments Pruitt creates which provide a pleasurable experience for the viewer and the artist alike.

Rob Pruitt (born 1964, Washington, D.C.) has been exhibiting internationally for the past 25 years. He has had recent solo exhibitions at the Kunstverein Freiburg, Germany, Dallas Contemporary, and the Public Art Fund, New York. His work has been included in numerous exhibitions internationally including major exhibitions at Tate Modern, London; Palazzo Grassi, Venice; MoMA PS1, New York; the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Le Consortium, Dijon, France; and the 2002 Shanghai Biennale, among many others.

Rob Pruitt: An American Folk Artist is organized by the AAM and funded in part by the AAM National Council. General exhibition support is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Exhibition lectures are presented as part of the Questrom Lecture Series and educational outreach programming is made possible by the Questrom Education Fund.

The Aspen Art Museum is a noncollecting institution presenting the newest, most important evolutions in international contemporary art. Our innovative and timely exhibitions, education and public programs, immersive activities, and community happenings actively engage audiences in thought-provoking experiences of art, culture, and society.

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