Lari Pittman left no room for misunderstanding at the 1993 Whitney Biennial. His boldly colored canvases—plastered with the words “HEY!” and “S.O.S.”—were about the AIDS crisis. In Pittman’s latest show at Lehmann Maupin, new works plus a monumental piece from his recent Museo Jumex retrospective continue to tell stories at the heart of American life, this time through the fabric of cities. Racial discord, LGBTQ+ struggles for civil rights, gun violence, and AIDS are all present in Pittman’s large-scale, heavily adorned works. There’s a lot to see, but if you look closely, Pittman’s messages are as insistent as an “S.O.S.” —Clara Molot