#peter stankiewicz

February 15 – March 19, 2020

Peter Stankiewicz’s work presents visual art as a musical metaphor and the painted object as a contemplative realm.

Comprised of paint airbrushed onto plastic surfaces, these newest paintings further the artist’s exploration of color harmonies and color contrasts  - and the moods each suggests. The works’ intimate scale invites inspection, offering the viewer a prospective field for the exercise of imagination.

The matte finish seems to draw the light (and, with it, the viewer’s eye) into the material, rather than keeping attention at the surface. Stankiewicz states that he prefers to use an airbrush “for the effects it can create: soft, diffuse or faded atmospheres and layers of color - and for the absence of any immediate trace of the human hand.”

While evidence of the painter’s hand may be veiled, the works convey an appearance of being acted upon by outside forces - such as weathering, oxidation and wear. This situates each work in a world whose aspect we are left to determine by the recording of its effects.

As images, the paintings depict the artist’s own foray into the same field for the exercise of imagination that he extends to the viewer. For Stankiewicz, this is a field of visual reward and particularities. He states: “I like dark colors, earth tones, the colors of rainy days, twilight, and the light before dawn. I like the colors of bricks, stones and wood, the various colors of the bark of the plane trees in the city, the colors of rusted steel.”

January 27 – March 2, 2018

“All these works are made of plastic, airbrushed with acrylic paint. I was initially inspired by pictures of the ‘dazzle’ patterns painted on ships during the first world war. As I worked I ended up liking simpler designs with just a few blocks of color.  Some of them began to look to me like piano keys, and I started to think of the idea of just a few notes or a chord sounding over a quiet background. I think the hard geometric edges of the shapes help emphasize the quality of the colors, leaving only simple proportions and a little paint texture as the other elements involved.  

“The three dimensional elements are an experiment to see how shapes can contrast against the colors, or follow them.   These are the first paintings I have made in some years, as I usually make only sculpture. 

“I think painting is the most difficult of the visual arts, and potentially the most rewarding. Using an airbrush to fill in the areas of color allows more coolness and distance in the mood of the picture. With this work I’m not looking for any drama of Van Gogh brushstrokes.”

                                                                             - Peter Stankiewicz