Just visited an exhibition, titled “Blood & Soil”, presenting new works by internationally renowned Los Angeles-based artist Cleon Peterson at the Over The Influence  Gallery, on 833 East 3rd Street. WOW – What a thought provoking and engaging exhibition that is!   A Must See!

“A fearless artist, Peterson, in this new body of work intends to reconcile our violent history with present day violence prevalent across the country… A celebrated painter of the distressing anxiety and sinister violence in contemporary society, Peterson’s bold black, white, and arresting bright red palette ominously complements the savage cruelty he portrays. Harkening the ghosts of past evil, Peterson’s works recall the horror in Goya’s ‘The Third of May 1808’. The resulting paintings are brutal in their depictions of violence which also bring contemporary atrocities to mind… With his skillful, strange, and unforgettable large figurative tableaux, Peterson forcefully translates the consciousness of carnage and chaos, issuing a powerful indictment against universal violence, past and present. His nightmarish vignettes demand examination; in his works, violence is a nightmare from which we have not awakened.” (- Over The Influence Gallery)

Still on view until August 5.

Best regards,

Rolf Goellnitz