©

LARI PITTMAN

Where the Expression of Love Will Be Encouraged (2385 AD)

1987
acrylic, enamel, and monoprint on paper
60 x 42 inches

Where the Expression of Love Will Be Encouraged (2385 AD) presents the paradigmatic fairy-tale, an exceptionally lovely seascape with sheer mountains and land masses bunched at the edges and a single ship floating through a spacious harbor near the bottom. The gentle lyricism of the open composition contrasts to the stagy quality of the space, organized as if by theatrical flats. The bold surface-bound motif of crossing spears or arrows connects the diverse parts, linking the oval and escutcheon-shaped cameos to the motion of the galleon. As a third level of signification, visual puns abound in this picture. A head that becomes the whole figure zooms out from the bow of the ship, where we might expect to see a "figurehead." The top of a mast is decorated with "69," one of Pittman's favorite plays on images, at once idiomatic sex act and yin-yang resolution.

From E. Brown, Lari Pittman Drawings, University Art Museum, UCSB, 1996.

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