NATHAN PECK
Beats that I frequent
RECEPTION
7-10 PM
28
June
Dates: 06/09 - 06/28
Total Duration:
Thursdays 6pm-whenever
Saturdays, 09:00am - 1:00pm
Sundays, 09:00am - 1:00pm
This series began by tracing portions of the
Chicago Police Beat Map onto canvas.
The locations of the precinct headquarters
are identified with stars.
I wanted to identify locations in Chicago that
I spend the most, some and very little time.
I recently re-mixed these canvases by applying text.
The text suggests locations in the city, or the painting,
that you should spend some time.
RECEPTION
7-10 PM
1
July
Dates: 07/01 - 07/15
Total Duration:
Thursdays 6pm-whenever
Saturdays, 09:00am - 1:00pm
Sundays, 09:00am - 1:00pm
I teach digital 3D courses at Saint Xavier University.
My students and I make many art and design objects using a laser cutter. This process generates interesting scraps.
I have squirreled away all of the scraps for several semesters with the intention of making art with them at some point.
I got the inspiration to do this from my friend Tom.
Several times Tom coordinated projects that aimed to have artists make work with the waste-stream of downtown businesses. He called his project the Green Office Challenge.
I call mine Homage to Tom.
Beyond getting the inspiration to make art with our waste-stream, I also was inspired to title this piece Homage to Tom because of the compositions. When I look at these works I see either a complex water system or a strange board game. Tom worked for the Water Department, and we invented a bad ass board game called Abstracticus.
Abstracticus is a fantastic blur between Parcheesi and improv with a heavy dose of game show. The only rule of abstractions is that you have to be willing to play along.
Tom has been on my mind quite a bit recently. He passed away last year and since his memorial service an enormous portrait of him has hung in my studio. Tom didn’t make art, but he always mad a lot of art happen. He made this art happen so this is an Homage to Tom.
RECEPTION
5-9 PM
27
July
Dates: 07/16 - 07/30
Total Duration:
Thursdays 6pm-whenever
Saturdays, 09:00am - 1:00pm
Sundays, 09:00am - 1:00pm
When I first painted these pictures in 2011 they were blaze red and sparkly gold.
The series was titled These Guys Work for Me.
The idea was to create grotesque images that were inspired by both football and slaughterhouses.
I had recently worked on a performance piece in an old slaughterhouse, and had been invited to play in an alumni football game.
These are wads of meat that have been ripped apart, then dressed up and presented for your consideration.
Fast forward to 2017.
I wanted to revise these works in order to create an illusion of space for these objects.
I wanted them to be somewhere.
I decided to choose a complimentary color to the blaze red, so I chose to build a swampy green place for each of these characters.
My goal, whenever remixing my work, is to keep enough of the original work to allow the viewer to know that it was remixed.
I want the audience to know that the paintings are forever in a space between what they were and what they will someday be.
This is just The Current State of the Art.
