Having achieved A measure of success as half of Pruitt-Early, a collaboration with Rob Pruitt, Jack Early was forced to retreat from the art world by the scathing critical reaction to the pair’s 1992 show at Leo Castelli, “Red, Black, Green, Red, White and Blue.” While Pruitt did likewise, he came back within a few years as a solo act. Early, who took longer to recover, only returned to exhibiting recently. On the evidence of his new work, the Raleigh, North Carolina–born painter and sculptor still shares his former partner’s love of Pop icons but prefers a less snarky, more reflective approach to it.
Continuing to mine the imagery of his adolescence, Early presents large photorealistic paintings depicting brimming bowls of Lucky Charms and thrusting phallic Popsicles, which he alternates with even less-equivocal images of gay male porn. All are rendered on canvases printed with a version of the artist’s childhood bedroom wallpaper, tweaked so that the soldiers it features hold hands. Subtle it ain’t, and the fussy colored frames around each panel don’t help. But those who find Pruitt’s more ironic take cliquish may warm to Early’s bright, bold visuals and personal statement.