ArtBridge is thrilled to present Pat Phillips: FRUITMAN at the SPRING/BREAK Art Show. This is the debut exhibition in NYC for Phillips, in which he employs dreamlike mythologies that navigate his experience growing up black in white American suburbs. The works in this exhibition examine the moments when the elation of youth run, with considerable force, into the suburban walls of race and class.
“I moved to Louisiana in 1995. The only kid in my class who looked like me. Growing up in a beautiful neighborhood with just three other families that look like mine. Recently, I moved back to this same neighborhood. More diverse now than I remember, I can’t help but notice a divide that extends beyond just our racial differences. In particular, with Louisiana having the nation’s largest prison population, I constantly wonder about the agricultural and economic benefits wrought from the ubiquitous people laboring in the orange jumpsuits.
These works titled, FRUITMAN, are a narrative of events that examine social and economic stratifications through the lens of a middle class African American. Utilizing satire and humor, these works take on a range of visual styles, mediums, and 3-dimensional objects, in order to create a balance between American landscape, kitsch, graffiti, and folk. By employing these elements, my goal is not only to show a relationship between styles, but also investigate social parallels and contrasts.”