"Art making is a form of alchemy, in a way, because you are trying…to make gold from nothing. When it works very well is when you manage to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary."
SEGMENT: Lari Pittman in "Romance"
From "Art in the Twenty-First Century" Season 4 (2007)
About
Lari Pittman was born and works in Los Angeles. His references and background which inspire his paintings and drawings include the freedom and chaos of the city, his memories of growing up in Columbia and his “very, very strong Mediterranean core.” Despite a charmed childhood, Pittman explains that what keeps him “radicalized” is an awareness of this country’s attitude towards the gay community. He also explains how he draws inspiration from religious images and retablos as well as gardening and landscaping. “I don’t respond to the idea of nature at large. I prefer landscaping,” says Pittman, “…landscaping as a way to push back, a little bit, the chaos of nature…the kind of violence of it.”
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