Los Angeles gallery The Pit has opened a solo exhibition from artist Devin Troy Strother, which confronts its audience with a graphic commentary on systems of oppression and white-washed cultural concepts. The provocative multimedia installation entitled “Undercover Brother” is on view through December 18th and is composed of hanging figures, ceramic sculptures, and collage paintings.
36 x 48 in.
The Pit focuses on highlighting artists who work across a variety of mediums and looks to engender cross-generational conversations between historical and emerging artists. As such, Strother’s brazen works fit right into their lineup, pushing back on boundaries and the status quo, and reclaiming ownership of long-held societal beliefs.
left middle: Buffalo Soldier, 2021, Enamel on ceramic , 8 x 7 x 4 in. Snow in the Congo, 2021,
right middle: Snow in the Congo, 2021, Enamel on ceramic , 9 x 4 x 5 in.
right: Fuck John Wayne, 2021, Enamel on ceramic , 13½ x 6 x 4 in.
Strother uses replacement, rearrangement, and reconstruction to subvert conventions established by our white-dominated world, creating alternative racial narratives with a darkly humorous slant. For example, the SoCal-native is known for painting on top of photos of famous white artists and actors to make them appear Black.
right: the two to three stepping is what we’re reppin / free legging, 2021, Oil, acrylic on canvas, 68 x 57 in.
middle: Black Magic, 2021, Enamel on ceramic , 5½ x 5 x 3½ in.
right: Black bait, 2021, Enamel on ceramic , 10 x 3 x 2 in.
Further exploration of these ideas is on full display within the works featured in “Undercover Brother,” including thrifted figurines Strother has painted and reworked in a process he calls “bombastic rebranding.”
“It’s revisionist art history to show a present reality reflective of what I believe the intentions of said works were,” Strother says on The Pit’s website.
Ultimately, “Undercover Brother” serves as a continuation of Strother’s ongoing dissection of culture and oppression. Borrowing gestures, images, and themes from Philip Guston, Strother makes a commentary on how reclamation, reinvention, and empowerment can be used by oppressed populations as sources of pride and survival.
middle: Jazz hands and my little man, 2021, Enamel on ceramic , 4 x 3 x 2 in.
right: If Lucy were black, 2021, Enamel on ceramic , 7 x 4 x 3½ in.