Richard Prince

Blum & Poe is pleased to present a collaboration between artist Richard Prince and the paragon of marijuana counterculture press, High Times magazine.

Well known for his penchant for outsider aesthetics and subculture iconography, Prince works with High Times for the first time, lending original compositions from his Hippie Drawings series of the late 1990s/early 2000s for the September 2016 special Trippy issue. These drawings exemplify Princeʼs practice of investigating the American collective unconscious and pursuing dualities -- he mines the marginalized and commonplace, and then filters this content through a discerning, expressive, and painterly tradition. Extraterrestrial, polychromatic figures wielding joints smirk at their viewer; wild and joyful gestures that recall the artwork of children or channel the renderings of a psychedelic trip -- Prince says of this series, "Being funny is a way to survive." [1]

In conjunction with the launch of the special issue, Prince has curated a collection of historical High Times covers traversing the publicationʼs history from 1974-2014. The artistʼs practice of gleaning inspiration from news and popular media well documented, here Prince selects covers from the magazineʼs archives that reflect certain subjects commonly found in his oeuvre. On the occasion of the special edition issue launch, rolling papers designed by the artist will be produced, along with a marijuana strain. This presentation has been organized in cooperation with Green St. Agency.

1 - Prince, Richard. Hippie Drawings. Ostfildern, Germany: Hatje Cantz, 2005.