12th Day of Christmas: Collecting Robert Pruitt's Black Bodies

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory Disney-Britton

Gregory Disney-Britton holding up the last of his 12 days of Christmas gifts,  "Benin Head" #29 of 45 by Robert Truitt

On this 12th Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a limited-edition print by Robert Truitt. Born in 1975 in Houston, TX, Pruitt makes drawings and sculptures about the complexity of the Black body and Black identity, often informed by science fiction, hip hop, and history. Represented by Koplin Del Rio in Seattle, Pruitt’s work is in the collections of The Studio Museum of Harlem and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. Today's gift is from a suite of eighteen lithographs by visiting artists at the Tamarind Institute.

Pruitt completed his Tamarind residency in 2014 during which he used lithography to continue exploring figurative drawings and the “loose narrative that has become the core ideology” of his practice.

Robert Pruitt's "Benin Head" (2014) (14-322); Single-color lithograph; Paper Size: 8 1/2 x 11 inches; Paper Type: Grey Pescia;  Collaborating Printer: Bill Lagattuta; Edition #29 of 45

Robert Pruitt's's "People's Party II," 2014 (14-316)Two-color lithograph; Paper Size: 40 x 30 1/8 inches; Paper Type: Grey Rives BFK;  Collaborating Printer: Maria Erikson;  Edition of 20

"Adam at the Gates of Eden" (2018); Charcoal & conte on coffee stained paper; 84 × 60 in; 213.4 × 152.4 cm