Peter Drake (1957 - )

Artist's Personal Statement
"I make new pictures out of old pictures. By cropping, omitting and adding to found imagery I shed light on small strange moments. I like to look at gestures where meanings have changed over time; a back turned to the viewer, a hysterical grin, or a father and daughter playing "horsey" all become layered with new meaning.

I think of these paintings as Giotto meets Vermeer on the way to David Lynch's house. I want them to be monumental, intimate and unsettling. They should feel familiar and still uncanny like scenes from a television show that was never filmed."

About the Artist's Art Process

First, it's important to say that I consider the technique that I employ to be inseparable from the images that I make. The process that I use is fundamentally subtractive.
I literally sand away at the surface of the paint to define the images. There is the sense when working this way that the image is there to begin with and that all that remains is to remove the detritus or unwanted residue. Equally important is the notion that light not only acts as a clarifying force, but also operates as a principle character in any implied narrative.

All of my paintings are done while stretched on the wall. The first thing that I do is isolate the canvas with an acrylic medium. This medium stabilizes the canvas and prevents it from stretching or shrinking in later stages. Then I mark off the borders of the painting with tape. Using a spackling knife I apply one coat of light molding paste which is sanded down and made smooth. I then brush on one coat of regular molding paste. This too is sanded down but the brush strokes are left intact. Next I roll on one coat of thin yellow toned gesso. This gesso creates both a colored ground and a slightly textured surface. I then apply one coat of red oxide acrylic and one coat of dioxazine purple. The overall affect of these three colors is a dark burgundy onto which the image is then drawn with a water soluble white pencil. Once the surface drawing is complete I begin sanding into the painting. I hand sand the painting using sandpaper in the ranges of 600 to 36 grit to create the image. As I sand into the surface all of the three colors are revealed at different intervals.

At this point when the rendering of the image is complete I roll on one coat of gel medium to recreate the textured surface of the gesso. I then apply various coats of transparent acrylic color over the entire painting. This is the most complex part of the process as it involves establishing local color while subtly adjusting the color of both light and shadow. I then sand into these glazes to establish the middle ground values and highlights. Next I isolate the painting with a thin clear acrylic medium and then remove the canvas from the wall to stretch it. Final step is an application of a UV satin varnish to protect the painting.

Bibliography

2006
Blanco & Negro", Artes, Republica Dominicana, No. 18, March
Corniel, Zaida, "District & Co. En blanco y negro" Mirada al Arte, Numero 5, February
“Contemporary Imaginings: The Howard & Judith Tullman Collection”, Catalog, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
Genocchio, Benjamin, “The Place We Call Home”, The New York Times, February 16
Gaynor, Elizabeth, "Memorable Vincent Wolf's Palette", Veranda, April
"I Love the Burbs", Catalog, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY
Kuspit, Donald, “Getting Real: The Fall Season in New York”, Art New England, January
Ord Manroe, Candace, "The Artful Life", Traditional Home, March
Plemmons, Chesley, ”Burbs or Bust”, News-Times, Danbury, CT, February 3
RE:D Design, "Subversive Design Issue", Volume 23, Number 5

2005
Brem, Alisa, “Gallery of the Week: Claire Oliver”, The Columbia Spectator, April 26
Chapin, Katherine, "Visitors from the East", Catalog, Billy Shire Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
Gehring, Kristin, “On the Scene”, Chicago Journal, December 7
Hinkel, Joanne, "All an Art Lover Wants for Christmas", Centerstage, Chicago, December 15
“The Other Main Stream”, Catalog, Arizona State University Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ

2004
Costello, Kevin, “New Frontiers in Art”, Sarasota Herald Tribune, October 31
Curry, Robert S., “Tauromaquia: The Art of Bullfighting”, Shade Magazine, August-September
"datebook", Metro/AZ, Summer

2003
Camper, Fred: "Living in the Moment," Chicago Reader, September 19
"The Burbs: The Influence of Suburban Iconography on Pictorial Art", Catalog, DFN Gallery, New York, NY

2001
Ellertson, Karen: "Motion Pictures," Portland Mercury, August 9

2000
Fahey, Anna: "Eyes Wide Open," Seattle Weekly, October 26

1999
Duford, Daniel: "Highway Sublime," Willamette Week, August 4

1995
Hall, Jacqueline: "A Brooding Kind of Mood," Columbus Dispatch, Sunday, March 19
Kohen, Helen: "Talent in the Dark: Artist Shine with Paintings of Night" The Miami Herald, Saturday January 21

1994
Swayer, Ted: "Art Damage: Dream Logic, Bedtime Stories with Peter Drake..." Paperback Jukebox, March 16-31

1993
Brumer, Andy: Review, "Peter Drake," ArtScene, (CA), December

1992
Johnson, Ken: "Peter Drake at Curt Marcus," Art In America, Vol. 80 No. 12, p. 114, December

1992
McKenna, Kristine: "The Chaos and Beauty of Peter Drakes Universe," Art Reviews Los Angeles Times, May 28
"Contemporary American Oil Painting," Jilin Fine Art Pub., Changchun, China
"Fresh Faces for Summer," New York Magazine

1990
Atkins, Robert: "Scene and Heard," The Village Voice, May 29
Atkins, Robert: "Nudity is the Art of the Matter," Newsday, April 17
Marzulli, John: "A Beastly Pix," New York Daily News, April 18
Visco, Stacianne K.: "Peter Drake's 'The Braid': The Controversial Drawing Moved," The Pioneer, April 25
Zimmer, William: "The Public and the Private In Robust Dialog," The New York Times, October 28
"No Nudes is Good News to Some," New York Post, April 18

1989
Karscholdgen, Von Ines: "Zwischen Strafe Und Vergebung," Kolnische Rundschau , Dec. 15
Larson, Kay: "Fresh Faces for Summer," New York Magazine
Rohrig, Johannes: "The Coincidence of Opposites" catalog of Kunst Station Sankt Peter Koln

1988
Nochlin,Linda: "New Landscapes," Interview Magazine, April
"Seeing the Figure," ARTnews, May

1987
Brenson, Michael: "Art: The Ink Drawings of Peter Drake in Show," The New York Times, Feb. 20

1986
"Alternatives, Oh, Oh...Oh, No...It's Eight Artists From Soho." Statesman, July 14
Bridson, Susan: "Color, Detail, Theme, Court Attention at Gallery," The Village Times, July 24
Cone, Michele: Flash Art, p.66-67, April, 1986
Harrison, Helen A.: Review, "Urban Anxieties Reflected In Paintings From East Village," New York Times, Aug.17
Larson, Kay: "In the Blink of an Eye," New York Magazine, October 20
Lipsow, Karen: Review, "A touch of the Bizarre at Stony Brook," Newsday, July 18
McKenna, Kristine: Review, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 21
"Peter Drake Solo," California Magazine, March
Windrow, Pat: "Enough with the Avant Garde," The Village Herald, July 16

1985
Brenson, Michael: "Notes From the Underground," The New York Times, January
Cotter, Holland: "57th Between A & D," Arts Magazine, April
Harrison, Helen A.: Review, The New York Times, July 21
Kohn, Michael: "Romantic Vision," Flash Art, January
Levin, Kim: "Show and Tell," The Village Voice, April

1984
Brennon, Mark: "Political Topics in Art at Borgenicht," Manhattan Arts, June
Brenson, Michael: Review, The New York Times, January 4
Glueck, Grace: Review, The New York Times, June
Levin, Kim: The Village Voice, June 12
McCormick, Carlo: "East Village '84," Art in America, Summer

1983
Valmer, Suzanne: "Drawings and Prints, As the Twain Meet," Arts Magazine, February

1982
Larson, Kay: "Stripped Affinities," New York Magazine, November

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