John Pirtle has been involved in Wichita’s local art scene for more than twenty years. He has been a part of several group and solo art shows. His artwork can also be seen throughout the city in several public murals he has painted for local businesses and restaurants.

His practice explores the complex nature of contemporary identity in a culture obsessed with image. How does one navigate, the spectacle of self? This is explored through the lens of celebrity. He is interested in the dual roles we play. Personas that are curated and often exhibited widely for the mass consumption vs the internal figure. Celebrity functions as both subject and metaphor in his work with the intention of examining the disconnect between the curated image and interior reality. Characters are often depicted wearing costumes that boast a type of dress-up or pageantry. Theatrical symbolism is used to distort and dramatize the everyday. This constructed spectacle most of us examine through social media provides that tension he examines in the work. The performance vs private. Sincerity vs satire. This duality in the work is present through carefully rendered figures juxtaposed with expressive brushwork. These formal qualities of the paintings themselves are an exercise of duality. Realistic gives way to abstraction. Iconic fades away to the anonymous. One can observe the grandiose lifestyle reserved for the fortunate few while tethered to their mundane 9-5 existence. Presently the notion of celebrity is so accessible and yet so alienating at the same time. His work questions this notion of what is truly seen.