PETER DRAKE

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am interested in the space between the real and the unreal.

Working in either full technicolor or subtractively in black and white (sanding away at the surface) my work collages bits and pieces of cultural detritus into new narratives. Magazines, movies, toys and art history are all just the raw elements of my paintings. By cropping, omitting and adding to found imagery I shed light on small strange moments. There is the point and counter-point of unexpected combinations, the uncanny internal logic when one image seems to require another. Consequently there is always more than one story being told.

I believe that all pictures have various levels of meaning; there is the original intention and then everything beyond that intention. The most magical aspect of pictures is the degree to which they exceed their original intentions.

ARTIST BIO

Peter Drake is a painter whose work sheds light on small strange moments. Magazines, movies, toys and art history are some of the raw elements of his paintings. Working in full technicolor or subtractively (sanding away at the surface) in black and white Drake thinks of his paintings as Giotto meets Vermeer on the way to David Lynch's house.

Peter Drake’s art has been featured in 27 Solo exhibitions and his work is held in numerous private, corporate and public collections including the Whitney Museum of Art, Phoenix Museum of Art, MOCA LA, Weatherspoon Art Museum and the L.A. County Museum of Art, among others.