Robert Pruitt

If The Spirit[1] is an amalgamation of an artist's ideas, influences, and sacred inspiration mediated between himself and the work he creates, Robert Pruitt has made legible a deeply personal process in a suite of ten large scale drawings.

The title of the exhibition is excerpted from a libretto[2] written by the avant-garde composer Sun Ra (1914-1993) whose music Pruitt has drawn inspiration from for this latest body of work and for works he has created in the past. Emblematic of his improvisational style, Sun Ra's text is a series alliterative verses that juxtapose biblical references with double entendres and vernacular expressions, a style that mirrors the formal characteristics of Pruitt's monumental Black figures and the magical environments he creates for them to inhabit. The line ...son...sun...sin...syn...sen

...zen...zenith... suggests both the sacred and the profane: as above, so below.

Pruitt, who was born and raised in Houston, Texas where his family has lived for generations[3], centers his own origin story to construct iconography around an intimate narrative about life and loss, memory and love. Rather than presenting art historical themes or tropes, he references an array of influences related to a personal story; Black diasporic narratives, the south, food culture, and rituals. Pruitt achieves the nuanced color of his figures and background by dyeing the paper with coffee. He photographs live models in bespoke costumes in his studio and then composes his drawings from the photographs.

Aside from various musical genres, his interests include superhero stories, myths, vintage comic books, traditional West African objects, and mid twentieth century design. He also has an authoritative knowledge of speculative fiction. For example, alluding to the Wizard of Oz character from the film The Wiz (1978), Portrait of Herman Smith from Atlantic City (2024) is a self-portrait, the largest work in the exhibition.

When drawing himself, Pruitt is usually identifiable by his signature X-ray sunglasses. Here, they sit on top of his head almost completely outside of the frame. Turned inward, seemingly fatigued, the artist refuses the gaze of the viewer, with his hand/s becoming the subject of the portrait. This is an example of a visual double entendre. Instead of the sunglasses, his hand or technical ability is foregrounded, obscuring his face in the portrait. Moreover, his hands are adorned with rings made with elements that traditionally function as amulets in several diasporic cultures: gold, peridot stone, and Sankofa symbols, stacked alongside a Houston Rockets championship ring for a good measure of contemporary swag. By casting himself as the antihero aka Herman Smith, a character who was plagued by the constructed mythology that confined him, Pruitt calls into question our perceptions of what a "maker" is. Created in tandem, Pruitt employs a storytelling device often used in classical oil painting, mise en abyme or the technique of composing a work within a work in Held her firmly yet gentle as a soft seed (2024). This striking detail demonstrates the masterful draftsmanship evident throughout the artist's oeuvre. Pruitt drapes his drawing Portrait of Herman Smith over the figure like a virtuoso protective covering. The self-portrait with amulets becomes the amulet itself. This is a motif that appears throughout the exhibition.

Continuing the theme, Man made of rain clouds (2024) and Monster on a 15 (2025) is another protagonist/antagonist pairing in dialogue. Man made of rain clouds is a portrait of a man in crisis; tender and finite. Pruitt strips away bravado and his trademark hyper realistic depictions to portray a figure with emotional fragility and a deep need for care. It is a powerful reframing of male vulnerability within a society that often denies it. In this work, the nude figure is a field of gesture with hints of blue and a single gold tooth. In a surreal bloom, he is beautiful, eerie, indeterminate. The absence of eyes or clothing make the figure feel both divine and disconnected like a symbol of authority that has lost its humanity, bizarre and strangely affecting. It made me think about inheritance, pressure, and how vulnerability is passed down or ignored altogether. The protagonist in Monster on a 15 is somber in his all-consuming children's costume, his lit cigarette precariously close to his expressive bright blue fur. Pruitt describes the work as a "play on contradictions: masculinity and scale, and the absurdity of fictional monstrosity."[4]

The theme of care and protection for the Black body is evident throughout this selection of works and something Pruitt seemed preoccupied with while preparing for this show.[5] The throughline is the artist's desire to create a constitutive habitat for each figure, one that is both spiritual and healing.

Monique Long lives and works in New York City. She is a writer and arts professional with an interdisciplinary practice. An independent curator of contemporary art, Long has organized exhibitions at institutions including Princeton University Art Museum, Portland Museum of Art, Guild Hall, Museum of the African Diaspora, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, and many others. Prior to working independently, Long held curatorial positions at The Studio Museum in Harlem and the Museum of Arts and Design. She is also a critic who has contributed to publications widely on contemporary art and personal essays. Long is also the recipient of a 2025 Mellon Foundation grant as editor for the exhibition monograph David Antonio Cruz: When the Children Come Home.

1 - Hegel, G. W. F. Phenomenology of Spirit. Translated by A. V. Miller, Oxford University Press, 1979.‘The Spirit’ is a term coined by the 19th century philosopher Georg Hegel, meaning the ways in which we draw inspiration from an irreducible source.

2 - The Wisdom of Sun Ra collection, Sc MG 942, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library.

3 - Conversation with Robert Pruitt Tuesday, April 29, 2025.

4 - Studio notes, Robert Pruitt, Friday, May 16, 2025.

5 - Conversation with Robert Pruitt.