December 1, 2004 - March 27, 2005

Summer conversations in a Sagaponack potato field...

You would be correct in assuming that the above line might come from a Richard Prince Joke Painting.

For many years the Rubell spent summers in a house built on a former potato field close to where Prince lived and worked. Occasionally the artist would drop in for lunch. Languid outdoor meal led to long conversations and afternoons spent in each other's company. These exchanges, no doubt, left a lasting impression. Prince would prove to have a great influence on the way the Rubells perceived the creative process altogether and his friendship strengthened their commitment to collecting his work and that of his contemporaries. Theirs is a mutual love affair thata lasts to this day -- amidst cowboy gangs, jokes, protests, rock stars, monster trucks, more jokes and a New England Nurse to step in should things get rough.

Fittingly enough, the Rubells' first Prince acquisition, Untitled (living rooms), give an ironic nod to Sagaponack and her affluent Hampton neighbors, at once celebrating and poking fun at the usual assumption of luxurious surroundings and genteel lifestyle. The work depicts a set of four appropriated photographs of living rooms with perfectly matching sofas and armchairs, soft lighting, glass coffee tables and, through the window, the modernist ideal - a landscape dominated by skyscrapers. Upon first sighting, the image affected the couple deeply, though differently: Don found a rigorous conceptual content in the tradition of Duchamp, yet for Mera, an immigrant to this country at the age of thirteen, the image embodies the ideal America, a place where everything is possible.

Artworks in the exhibition

Untitled (living rooms), 1977
Four Ektacolor photographs, 1/10
20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61 cm) each

Untitled (man’s hand with cigarette), 1980
Ektacolor photograph
40 x 60 in. (101.6 x 152.4 cm)

Untitled (three women looking in the same direction), 1980
Three Ektacolor photographs, 3/10
20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61 cm) each

Untitled (sunset), 1981
Ektacolor photograph, 4/5
30 x 45 in. (76.2 x 114.3 cm)

Monster Truck, 1985-86
Color photograph
14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.4 cm)

Nancy to her girlfriend, 1986
Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas
56 x 48 in. (142.2 x 121.9 cm)

Joke (I just solved the parking...), 1986
Ink on cardstock
71/2 x 111/2 in. (19.1 x 29.2 cm)

Joke (I’ve got no sex life...), 1986
Ink on cardstock
71/2 x 111/2 in. (19.1 x 29.2 cm)

Joke (Shirely to her girlfriend...), 1986
Ink on cardstock
71/2 x 111/2 in. (19.1 x 29.2 cm)

Untitled (cowboys 2), 1986
Ektacolor photograph, 2/2
86 x 48 in. (218.4 x 121.9 cm)

Untitled (joke 7), 1987
Powdered graphite on gessoed canvas
24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm)

Untitled (joke), 1987
Silkscreen on canvas, edition of 5
24 x 18 in. (61 x 45.7 cm)

Untitled (cowboy), 1987
Ektacolor photograph, 2/2
20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61 cm)

Untitled (cowboy), 1987
Ektacolor photograph, 2/2
20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61 cm)

Untitled (cowboy), 1987
Ektacolor photograph, 2/2
24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm)

Untitled (cowboy), 1987
Ektacolor photograph, 2/2
24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm)

Untitled (cowboy), 1987
Ektacolor photograph, 2/2
20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61 cm)

Untitled (cowboy), 1987
Ektacolor photograph, 2/2
20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61 cm)

Monster Cowboy Sailor, 1987-88
Ektacolor photograph, 2/2
86 x 48 in. (218.4 x 121.9 cm)

I changed my name, 1988
Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas
56 x 791/2 in. (142.2 x 199.4 cm) overall

Inside World, 1989
Artist’s book compiled by Richard Prince, published by Thea Westtreich, signed limited clothbound edition, edition of 250 copies and 8 artist’s proofs, with orginal artwork, printed in Holland by Lecturis bv, Eindhoven 207/250
125/8 x 83/4 x 3/4 in. (32 x 22.2 x 2 cm)

Anyone Can Find Me, 1990
Ektacolor photograph, 2/2
86 x 47 in. (218.4 x 119.4 cm)

Untitled (Protest Painting), 1990-93
Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas
38 x 18 in. (96.5 x 45.7 cm)

all the best, 2000
Clothbound portfolio with 12 signed, color photographs, published by Jablonka Galerie, Cologne, Letter V of edition A-Z and 4 AP
8 x 101/8 in. (20.3 x 25.7 cm) each

Nuts, 2000
Acrylic on canvas
112 x 2031/2 in. (284.5 x 516.9 cm)

New England Nurse, 2002
Ink jet print and acrylic on canvas
791/2 x 521/4 in. (201.9 x 132.7 cm)