Rob Pruitt's Autograph Collection

It all began with Woody Allen. In 1980, Rob Pruitt, then sixteen-years-old, made the pilgrimage from his hometown of Washington, DC, to New York City to obtain the director's autograph. This trophy marked a starting point for one of Pruitt's most ambitious body of work, as over the past three decades, he has amassed over 400 autographs on unstretched, raw Belgian linen.  This vast collection features signatures from well-known individuals, including visual artists, actors, political figures and other people of cultural significance. 

Since the dawn of modernism and conceptual art, artists have stopped signing the front of their canvases. Pruitt’s project responds to this trend by emptying the canvas of all content except for the signature that is drawn on each piece of raw linen. The series a snapshot of the past three decades—it reflects our collective desire for authenticity of experience, our bottomless obsession with fame, and the fleeting nature of celebrity.  

This publication includes an essay by Alison Gingeras, over 200 signatures accompanied by analysis by Arlyn Imberman and Roger Rubin, and a text by Jack Early.