Details:
① Artwork:
if morandi was black / steal life
In this painting, the artist riffs off a series of Philip Guston’s well-known “brick wall” still life paintings. Yet, with his characteristic self-referential humor, he titles the work after another famous still-life painter: Giorgio Morandi.
Devin Troy Strother’s practice is rooted in appropriation and abnegation. In this body of work, Strother uses a lesson from his art school training—to dutifully make copies of master paintings—which he loosely reapplies to Philip Guston. With his brazen cribbing, Strother posits that originality is artificially constructed by both market and social contract. So when does appropriation (or derivativeness) become distinct? Strother’s answer seems to be that since Black culture gets relentlessly appropriated by mainstream music, fashion, and language, the tables should get turned on the art world’s endless demand for “innovation.”
Specs:
③ Artist:
Devin Troy Strother’s practice is rooted in appropriation and abnegation. Strother freely borrows signature moves from other artists, including but not limited to Jasper Johns, Cory Arcangel, and Barnett Newman, many of whom also used appropriation in their art. With his brazen cribbing, Strother posits that originality is perhaps artificially constructed by both market and social contract. So when does appropriation (or derivativeness) become distinct? Strother’s answer seems to be that since Black culture gets relentlessly appropriated by mainstream music, fashion, and language, the tables should get turned on the art world’s endless demand for “innovation.”
Devin Troy Strother was born in 1986 in West Covina, CA, and lives in Los Angeles, CA. He received his BFA from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA (2009).
He has mounted solo exhibitions at Over the Influence in Hong Kong, China (2019); Shoot The Lobster in Los Angeles, CA (2018); V1 Gallery in Copenhagen, Denmark (2018); Marlborough Contemporary in New York City, NY (2017), and others.
He’s been included in group shows such as Light Up the Sky at The Pit in Los Angeles, CA (2022); Wild Frontiers at The Pit in Los Angeles, CA (2020); Los Angeles Focus at Maki Gallery in Tokyo, Japan (2020); Highlight: Chelsea, curated by Paul Efstathiou at Hollis Taggart in New York City, NY (2018); and Coping Mechanisms at Library Street Collective in Detroit, MI (2018).
