Mood Books
Over the weekend, the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, opened Lari Pittman: Mood Books. The exhibition features six massive illustrated books--opening to more than four feet in width--that contain 65 "hallucinogenic" paintings by the Los Angeles-based artist. Since his first solo exhibition in 1982, Pittman has become a well-known figure in the contemporary art world. His paintings draw inspiration from a variety of sources, including folk art and commercial advertising, and they often navigate heady themes (love, sex, rebellion) with vivid, illuminating color. 
As art critic David Pagel wrote in BOMB magazine in 1991, "Lari Pittman's paintings indulge a sensualist's love for the visceral. Rendered with a fanatic's precision, his Victorian silhouettes: imaginary organic forms, runawayarrows, and arabesques, transform ornamentation into a contemporary narrative of life and death, love and sex."
The exhibit is up through February 20, 2017.
Image: Lari Pittman, from 12 Verified Occurrences During a Full Moon, 2015, acrylic and lacquer spray over gessoed, heavy-weight paper board, 27 ? 25 ? 4.5 inches. © Lari Pittman, courtesy of the artist and Regen projects, Los Angeles.
