Peter Brooke: Out in the Overcast

November 7—December 13 at Gallery NAGA

In the best of times and in the worst of times, artists make art.  So it is not surprising that, even in times of turmoil, we persevere in presenting their work.  Amid crisis or calm, we look to them for insight into our world and our human condition.  At their best, as in Peter Brooke’s new work, they challenge us to perceive our situation more clearly.

Brooke’s recent paintings use a vocabulary of forms derived from the surroundings of his Vermont home and from western coastal Ireland, which he has visited often.  He deploys climate, atmosphere, moisture, and light, and their interactions impact on our ability to perceive the land and the space in which it sits.  “They’re musings on those spots.” he says.

In talking about his work, Brooke suggests the ways in which a sophisticated take on viewing the landscape resembles a sophisticated take on human relations.  “I’ve made a concerted effort in these paintings,” he explains, “to overlap the hard-edged, the sharp, and the focused with the ethereal, the spacious, and the atmospheric.  They coexist in a much more complex fashion.”

“I’ve always had a predilection for precision and a predilection for space,” he continues.  “In the past I’ve separated them within the picture plane.  Now they overlap.  Some punctuate, and others diffuse.”

Brooke’s 2007 trip to Ireland, his fourth, led to his first museum show there at The Dock in Carrick-on-Shannon.  In 2008 solo shows of his work have been presented at the Maryland Institute for Art in Baltimore and at Sanford Smith Fine Art in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.