Living & Arts

Peter Paone's 'Creative Wellsprings' on display at the List Gallery

Peter-paones-creative-wellsprings-on-display-at-the-list-gallery

Courtesy of www.peterpaone.com

Peter Paone, “White Fish.” Synthetic watercolor.

In print | October 9, 2008

“Creative Wellsprings,” the newest exhibit in the List Gallery as of last Thursday, marks Philadelphia native Peter Paone’s first solo painting exhibition in the area since 1983. Renowned for his inventive imagery and a self-described humanist, Paone has recently focused upon figure paintings of creative individuals, such as poets and musicians, representing what he calls “the human condition.” “Creative Wellsprings” contains many of these figure paintings, as well as other works, all done in acrylic paints on mylar and panel. The images in the exhibit range from the uncanny to the psychedelic, but all maintain a surrealism that is a constant in Paone’s work.

Paone gave a public lecture on the day of the gallery opening, in which he surveyed the evolution of his work in painting, starting as far back as his work in high school and ranging to the present. He described his experiences studying at the Philadelphia College of Art, partying with the likes of George Harrison and Ringo Starr in London in the ’60s, and more generally, developing his philosophy as an artist. “I spent my entire life keeping my demons from the angels,” Paone said during the lecture. That mode of thought is evident in all of his work, because while his subject matter and style have undergone numerous transformations, there is a constant sense of the tortured imagination. He also highlighted the importance of imagination in his work, saying he prefers “working directly from my imagination itself.” This seems only fitting when considering his exhibition, which focuses so much upon the roots of creativity for musicians, poets and artists. Throughout his lecture, Paone repeated words of wisdom he had heard such as: “ If you live a life, life will give you pictures.”

Perhaps because of his imaginative focus, his works representing creative artists stand out the most within the exhibit. Paintings such as “Thought Poet” and “Smoker Poet,” both small, almost cramped-seeming works depicting men from the shoulders up, seem so rich and personal that one is drawn to them before any of the larger, non-figurative paintings. His use of unique and often intricate frames, which he designs himself, is also more evident in his smaller works. His paintings in the exhibit that focus more on social commentaries are powerful as well; an example is “911,” a painting done in response to the events of Sept. 11, featuring burning birds cascading from two slender flower vases poised to topple. However, such images lack the intimacy of his portrait-like figure paintings that makes their unconventionality so striking. Prevalent through all his paintings, regardless of subject matter, is Paone’s thoroughly intricate technique. “What I found really interesting was his attention to detail,” says Jennifer Akchin ’10 of the exhibit. “I loved the intricacy of the layering in his paintings; different layers got very detailed, with tiny outlines of faces and other shapes in unexpected places.”

Although the exhibit highlights Paone’s work as a painter, Paone is also an extremely accomplished art educator. “He founded the printmaking department at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,” List Gallery Director Andrea Packard said. “I studied with him there in the late ’80s and have known him for over twenty years … he has been a studio assistant to Ben Shahn, met Braque and other important 20th century artists and has developed a reservoir of knowledge about the history of art that greatly informs his own art and teaching.” Paone experience in studying the creative process, through art education, makes his paintings of various types of artists in “Creative Wellsprings” seem all the more relevant.