Rob Pruitt: Therapy Paintings

Massimo De Carlo London showcases ‘Rob Pruitt: Therapy Paintings’. Following on from his previous show ‘suicide paintings’, the artist has produced doodles from his therapy sessions blown up to fill large canvases and then overpainted.

“I call this series the Therapy Paintings, because the linear information printed onto each impastoed surface is generated during weekly visits to my therapist. I’ve seen a therapist for a good part of my adult life, and even though I’m quite comfortable on the couch, the act of speaking un-self-consciously about myself had always been difficult, even in this sanctified environment. That changed when I began bringing a pocket-sized notepad and pen with me to my sessions. Letting the pen scribble across the paper automatically was like opening up a valve in my brain, allowing me to speak with greater ease. At the time, I never saw these drawings as anything more than the residue of my progress with my therapist. But then I began to recognize how, by capturing and containing the emotional energy that I was feeling at the time, they could become the basis for a type of abstract painting that I have long wanted to explore.” Rob Pruitt.