Summary
- American artist Devin Troy Strother has unveiled a new exhibition at Ruttkowski;68 in Cologne, Germany
- Titled B M W (A Black Man’s Wish), the show gathers new paintings and mixed-media works that explore narratives of fantasy, ambition, and access, told through the aperture of a bygone status symbol
Ironic and introspective, provocative and deeply personal, Devin Troy Strother’s artworks aren’t so easy to contain. The artist has built a following from pieces that deconstruct the social codes that rule over us, subverting racial stereotypes with critical sincerity, often using humor as the entry point. It’s an approach perfectly embodied by the Paid in Full line that inspired his latest solo exhibition: “BMW stands for Black Man’s Wish, because I wish I had one.”
In B M W (A Black Man’s Wish) at Ruttkowski;68 in Cologne, Germany, the Los Angeles-based artist examines how even gold can rust. In a new series of paintings and mixed-media works, he turns to the cultural weight attached to the German automaker, using it as a stand-in for shifting meanings of ambition, fantasy, and success within the collective and personal imaginary.
The title nods to the aspirational culture of 1980s Harlem, where owning such a car was a sign that you’d made it. Fast-forward to now: the show also references the artist’s own ride — a 2012 BMW 328i station wagon. What was, at one point, one of the world’s most recognizable status symbols takes on a newfound mundanity, a domesticity, that suggests that dreams are always up for reconsideration.
Throughout the show, a single vehicle opens up larger conversations around desire, class, race, and the stories we project onto material objects. Alongside his famed fondness for Philip Guston, Strother also cites a handful of other artists in the works’ titles, such as Tal R., Eddie Martinez, Emil Nolde, and Max Ernst, turning to art historical and contemporary greats to carve out his own canon of success.
Courtesy Of The Artist And Ruttkowski;68
Courtesy Of The Artist And Ruttkowski;68
Courtesy Of The Artist And Ruttkowski;68
B M W (A Black Man’s Wish) is now on view in Germany until September 26.
Ruttkowski;68 Cologne
Lichtstraße 8-24,
50825 Ehrenfeld,
Germany
