Artist and founder of EDGE Gallery
Ken Peterson has been showing his paintings since 1991. In an effort to break away from the use of more traditional materials, he has developed a system of experimenting with materials found primarily at hardware stores.
The works shown here are on panel. They are created using drywall mud, tarpaper, house paint, and amber boat shellac.
By selectively mining traditional symbolic art images and tropes; utilizing non-traditional materials and techniques, my work allows me the freedom to explore both image and material. More importantly, my painting allows the viewer the opportunity to see works that present them with different options of judgment and understanding. I am attempting to avoid those paths that only lead to specific destinations, and explore some of those uncharted routes that may lead to discovery. While I play a small, and rather inconsequential part within the greater range of visual arts experience, perhaps you, as an astute observer of the morphology of the creative energy that seems to be emerging (and actually has been for the last decade or so) could articulate, and have a major part in nurturing that unique identity, rather than simply retelling the stories that bring us comfort and complacency. Ken Peterson
Peterson’s background in art history and philosophy also heavily influences his work. {He has taught Contemporary Art History of the 20th and 21st Century; and Art Theory and Criticism at the Metropolitan State University of Denver}
Peterson’s work has been seen at The Denver Art Museum, The Arvada Center for the Visual Arts, The Dairy, DAVA, Emmanuel Gallery, The Art Students League, The DPCA, the Denver Civic Theater, as well as at many of the artist-operated “alternative” galleries, including Spark, Pirate, Core, ILK, and EDGE Gallery.