Honor Titus
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Honor Titus | |
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| Born | Honor Titus July 18, 1989 |
Honor Titus (born July 18, 1989) is an American artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Since his first solo exhibition in 2020, he has received international recognition for his painting practice, which weaves together a surreal, expressive iconography with references drawn variously from literature, art history, music, architecture and American advertising traditions.[1][2]
As the artist Henry Taylor wrote of Titus in Interview magazine, "Titus has struck out on his own with a series of romantic, figurative paintings that conjure nostalgic, art-historical vignettes (the leisure of lawns, car culture, dances), but casts them through a gripping surrealistic lens that feels startlingly fresh."[3] He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1989 to Andres “Dres” Vargas Titus, a member of the influential rap group Black Sheep, Titus came to prominence in the New York punk rock scene in the early 2010s. At this time, Titus also became renowned for his prose through independent readings in New York City, where he became associated with the artist Raymond Pettibon, who provided the cover art for Titus's first album. Titus began working in Pettibon’s studio, where he assisted and developed an interest in stylized graphic art. Later, the artist Henry Taylor also befriended Titus and gave him his first solo exhibition at the Henry Taylor Gallery, introducing him to the Los Angeles contemporary art landscape.[4]
Work
Since moving to Los Angeles in 2016, Titus has focused exclusively on his visual art practice as a painter and draughtsman. His work has since received extensive critical acclaim in publications such as The New York Times, Frieze magazine, Artnet, Interview and Art in America. Between May – August 2021, his work was included in the institutional group exhibition 'and I will wear you in my heart of hearts' at the FLAG Art Foundation, New York.[5] He is particularly noted for his use of vibrant, painterly colour and his distinct use of recurring motifs such as the significance of solitude and a nostalgia for the pre-digital era. His work has drawn comparisons to the influences of Edward Hopper and the nineteenth-century French Symbolist group Les Nabis.
Titus' early paintings portrayed faceless figures in minimal urban landscapes, reflecting the sense of isolation and loneliness that results from a condition of anonymity in the urban environment. Later themes have included compositions inspired by the ritual formality of athletic sports, such as swimming and dancing. In their bold immediacy and emphasis on flat, decorative patterns, Titus’s surfaces echo the hyper-realist graphic style practiced by artists inspired by American advertising, such as Alex Katz. He is represented by Timothy Taylor (gallery).
Exhibitions
Recent solo exhibitions include Advantage In, Gagosian, Beverly Hills (2023);For Heaven's Sake, Timothy Taylor, New York (2021); and Goodness Gracious, Henry Taylor Gallery, Los Angeles (2020). Group exhibitions include IRL at Timothy Taylor, London (2021); and I will wear you in my heart of heart, FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY (2021); and (Nothing but) Flowers, Karma, New York (2021).
