Step into the world of Bronx-based artist Robert Pruitt who creates monumental figurative drawings inspired by comics, science fiction, Afrofuturism, and Black cultural history. Watch as his drawing process unfolds, starting with photography and reference-based drawing, which incorporates costumes, symbolism, and materials rooted in Black cultural rituals and everyday life. His life-sized figures aren’t just portraits—they are fully constructed worlds where body, adornment, and imagination work together.
Superheroes and comic book mythology run deep through Pruitt’s thinking, shaping how he approaches scale, gesture, and the idea of the heroic figure. Raised in Houston’s Fourth Ward and now working in New York, Pruitt uses drawing to imagine Black futures beyond stereotypes and the limits of history. He states, “Our relationship to beauty is subjective… What happens if we’re not bound by these things?”
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The comments and opinions expressed in this video are those of the speaker alone, and do not represent the views of The Museum of Modern Art, its personnel, or any artist.
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