Posted on
2023-07-24
In an oeuvre marked by its immediacy and range, Titus draws on architectural, cinematic, musical, sporting, and literary sources (he has described approaching his subjects as if through the eyes of an “unexpected confidante” such as The Great Gatsby’s Nick Carraway). Through this compound perspective, he reframes formal social traditions for an inquiring contemporary audience, additionally underscoring the cultural significance of depicting people of color in the contexts of leisure and luxury.
This holds demonstrably true in the tennis motif. In the tellingly titled Prosperity (all works 2023), Titus depicts a Black ball boy standing in front of a deep-blue backdrop emblazoned with the art-deco Rolex crown logo (otherwise known as the Rolex coronet), his raised arm suggesting a gesture of triumph.
Second Serve details the powerful musculature of a player’s arm as she swings her racquet overhead. And in Charles, Between Games, a player is shown relaxing on a courtside bench, sipping a well-earned cuppa. While these paintings seem to cast an eye back to simpler times in their celebration of countryclub joie de vivre, they remain connected to the present moment, and echo Titus’s painterly intentions of bucking the viewer’s expectations.
Opposite – Members Only, 2023
Exhibition runs through to September 16th, 2023
Gagosian
456 North Camden Drive
CA 90210 Beverly Hills
gagosian.com