Last week I fell in love with an artist all over again. It’s an artist I’ve known for 20 years, whom I thought I knew. This show, which includes several of his earlier works from the 1970s, rocked my consciousness. I was enveloped in their stories and felt drawn into their worlds. I was at Richard Pitt’s latest show titled Presence at NOHO/M55 gallery last week.
“Before there was art, there was presence,” are the first words in the essay written by Pitts that accompanies this exhibition.
“Long before images were made, before language named the world, human being stood before the unknown….They were not observers….They were participants within it.”
Pitts is an artist, writer, gallerist, teacher, mentor, and much more. The New York art world has felt his impact for over 60 years.
I walked into the gallery, and the richness of his portraits surprised me. The warm colors, the rounded figures and designs, the gentle humor and compassion of the subjects; it reminded me a little of mid-20th century Latin-American artists. A couple dancing the Tango, a young man in an orchard, a self-portrait. Each work dragged me into their story.
I’ve known Pitts for 20 years. I was first introduced to him at a faculty show at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) where he was a professor of Fine Arts. Later I saw his print wrapped totems displayed at Yonkers Library. I witnessed his work transition into wall sculptures, and then freestanding, dynamic, metal sculptures. He started a series called Fragmented Memories. Using drawings from his younger days as a base, he created collages with newer additions. I exhibited his work several times at our gallery, drawn in by the dynamic, complex and fluid artistry.
So, I thought I knew his work. I thought I understood his story and his evolution. I had interviewed and written about him. I knew he had started his career in figurative and landscapes, but seeing this earlier, formative work for the first time, I finally realized that this was the foundation upon which all his newer work was built. The warmth of his storytelling gave his more abstract works more depth and impact. This is the presence that Pitts talks about.
As I walked out of the gallery, I saw a painting of a man and his dog silhouetted on a high outcrop. They looked content and at peace, surveying the landscape laid out before them. It hit me deep in my soul as I yearned to join them.
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