Denis Peterson

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Denis Peterson (1944 NYC) is an American hyperrealist painter whose early photorealist works [1][2][3] were exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, Whitney Museum, and Max Hutchinson Gallery in New York.

Contents

[edit] Life and Work

Peterson is a widely acknowledged pioneer and primary architect of hyperrealism[4] which was founded upon the aesthetic principles of Photorealism. Author Graham Thompson wrote "One demonstration of the way photography became assimilated into the art world is the success of photorealist painting in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is also called super-realism or hyper-realism and painters like Richard Estes, Denis Peterson, Audrey Flack, and Chuck Close often worked from photographic stills to create paintings that appeared to be photographs." [5]

Peterson has often utilized the hyperrealism painting style as a phenomenological vehicle for social change.[6] Figurative images in compressed space and incorporeal landscapes of social decadence are visual commentaries on the aftermath of genocides, diasporas and cultural divides.[7]

[edit] Painting Subjects

These photorealistic works are visually compelling; often bearing witness to historical evidence of grotesque mistreatment of people by governments, societies and systemic classism.[8][9] His earlier work exposed totalitarian regimes, raising political and moral questions with regard to third world military governments. These hyperreal depictions were often seen as a legacy of hatred and intolerance.[10]

Visually disturbing subjects of this iconoclastic artist have been statuesque figures and stoic faces painted in an eerily and deafening hyper-reality. His subjects are universally depicted with an internalized calm in the face of the surrounding horrors of deadly disease, impending torture, terrorizing fear and irrational hatred.[11]

[edit] Themes of Work

Thematically, Peterson's hyperrealist works are presented in series. Many of his provocative paintings have confronted the human condition.[12][13] His more recent photorealistic work encompasses meticulously detailed cityscapes.


[edit] Published Notes and References

  1. ^ Linda Chase, Photorealism at the Millennium, The Not-So-Innocent Eye: Photorealism in Context. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. New York, 2002.
  2. ^ Robert Bechtle: A Retrospective by Michael Auping, Janet Bishop, Charles Ray, and Jonathan Weinberg. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, (2005). ISBN 978-0520245433
  3. ^ Battock, Gregory. Preface to Photorealism. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York, 1980. pp 8-10
  4. ^ Thompson, Graham: American Culture in the 1980s (Twentieth Century American Culture) Edinburgh University Press, 2007
  5. ^ Thompson, Graham: American Culture in the 1980s (Twentieth Century American Culture) Edinburgh University Press, 2007
  6. ^ Interview FOXTV - Real Talk with Brenda Blockman [1]
  7. ^ Article - NYC Art by Chris Rywalt [2]
  8. ^ Art Without Edges: Images of Genocide in Lower Manhattan by Robert Ayers [3]
  9. ^ Interview Cable News 12 with John Baske [4]
  10. ^ Article - Show Review by Chris Ashley [5]
  11. ^ Commentary by Fergal Keane, Special Correspondent BBC [6]
  12. ^ Jean Baudrillard, "The Procession of Simulacra", in Media and Cultural Studies : Keyworks, Durham & Kellner, eds. ISBN 0631220968.
  13. ^ Horrocks, Chris and Zoran Jevtic. Baudrillard For Beginners. Cambridge: Icon Books, 1996. p. 80-84


[edit] External links