Rob Pruitt has returned to making art a deux. In his latest show, Pruitt, along with his partner Jonathan Horowitz, has transformed a real estate transaction into a cross-county art event. “Surreal Estate” revolves around the sale of the pair’s country house, Peacock Hill, in the Catskills town of Fleischmanns, NY. The show consists of an installation at Gavin Brown and a series of events, all open to the public, at Peacock Hill. Riffing on upstate kitsch and downtown art world insiderism, “Surreal Estate”’s gallery installation takes the form of a quasi-haunted house, with black walls and goth photos of the handsome black-and-purple Victorian. There’s also a painting that gives directions to the site, an ink-jet print that describes how to make your own Peacock Hill cocktail with Fleischmann’s Gin (ingredients provided), and a video, made in collaboration with Alex Bag, that offers a tour of the premises. The chalkboard “Schedule of Weekend Events at Peacock Hill” spoofs activity boards at Borscht Belt resorts, but you won’t find goings-on like this at the Nevele. Activities like the “Group Acid Trip,” “AS Four Fashion Show,” “Botox Party,” and the not-to-be missed “Celebrity Softball: Greene Naftali v. GBE” may sound fake, but the gallery assures us that, like the sale of the house itself, it’s all for real.
