A lot of bangers in the new issue of The Brooklyn Rail, but it’s bangers all the way down with this Rob Pruitt interview by Andrew Woolbright. Really thoughtful reflections on the Early days; the banal impossibility of grasping the passage of time; Cocaine Buffet (1998) as Dark Relational Aesthetics; and this heartwrenching and hilarious commentary on art and love:
Woolbright: Is there work that you make, other than the pandas, that feels vulnerable, or maybe that you’d even consider to be bad in some way?
Pruitt: Maybe the paintings that come up to auction? I always assume they are the worst paintings. Nobody can find enough love for them to keep them, right? My mother was a hoarder, and part of me too can’t let go of the unneeded things—even bad paintings. Even if I could buy the bad paintings back to save my own market, I wouldn’t be able to destroy them. I think I would need to invent a new project, like paint them all yellow or something. “These yellow paintings aren’t the bad paintings anymore, they’re perfectly new and fresh and ready for you to buy and love.”
Rob Pruitt with Andrew Woolbright, Feb 2026 [brooklynrail]