Events/
Peter Hopkins

The Society for Contemporary Art at the Art Institute is proud to present: Peter Hopkins in a presentation of his work. Peter Hopkins is one of the most ambitious artists at work today, redefining the boundaries of contemporary painting. In particular, he sees his work as part of a vast historical tradition and is determined to create work that rivals the sublime aesthetic achievements of previous artistic movements. In his painting, he has attempted to reestablish what could be called ?deep space.? Mr. Hopkins exercises a kind of critical rethinking of the ?deep, artificial space? that was once a sort of ?proof? of painting?s superior status within the visual media, but is now largely absent from it. His references are to the 19th century, especially the Romantic German and French painters and those of the Hudson River School. In his own work, polarized adhesive metal foils (of the kind used in credit card holograms, children?s stickers, and other cheap novelties) are combined with inexpensive cosmetic products (lipstick, nail polish, metallic powders) or ?social fluids? (perfume, medical dyes, cleaning agents, or waste fluids) suspended in resin. The effect is to create small, deep ambiguous spaces that slightly displace the viewers equilibrium for a moment. Hopkin?s attempt is to recreate the feeling from 19th century landscape painting, ?that of staring into a void.? Born in 1955, Peter Hopkins has shown his work extensively in Europe and the United States. In addition to painting, he works in performance and other environmental media.