McKenzie Fine Art: Gary Petersen 2024 Exhibition

55 Orchard Street, New York, New York 10002 212 989 5467

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	Gary Petersen The Shape of Walking September 11 - October 20, 2024
	Petersen draws inspiration from a variety of sources, including mid-20th century modernism, architecture, and cartoons. His process begins with the arrangement of elongated, nesting geometric forms and free-flowing, meandering lines painted in acrylic on canvas. A thin wash of transparent white paint partially obscures these elements, creating a layered field that serves as the foundation for the colorful, curving shapes and arcing lines that define his work. In these new paintings, Petersen’s forms feel more buoyant and less tethered, with large curvilinear zones containing the artist’s signature brightly hued forms defining the overall composition. Through a sophisticated use of color and contour, shapes appear to both advance and retreat in space. A dynamic push/pull between foreground elements and the background is pronounced, and the sense of depth, whether deep or shallow, is never fixed. Elongated, undulating forms also make an appearance, recalling shaped paintings by Petersen from the 1990s. These create an enhanced sense of rhythmic movement and a lyrical playfulness, as they swoop and dance across the surface. In the largest painting, Garden of Music (after Bob Thompson), 54 by 94 inches, shapes are arranged as if in a stately processional. The exhibition also includes drawings in colored pencil and ink and graphite, highlighting Petersen's engagement with the interaction between drawing and painting. Gary Petersen (b.1956, Staten Island, NY) received his B.S. from The Pennsylvania State University and an M.F.A. from The School of Visual Arts. He has exhibited widely in New York City, throughout the United States, and in Europe since the early 1990s. Petersen's work has been reviewed in many publications including Hyperallergic, Artnews, Art in America, and The New York Times. His paintings and drawings are in numerous private, corporate, and public collections including The Dallas Museum of Art, The Jewish Museum in New York, the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, NJ, and the US Department of State. The artist has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, among them The Bogliasco Foundation Residency Fellowship, The Barnett and Annalee Newman Foundation Grant-Award, The MacDowell Colony Fellowship, and The American Academy of Arts and Letters Purchase Award. Petersen currently has a studio in Brooklyn and resides in Hoboken, New Jersey.