Peter Roell artscenetoday featured artist

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p e t e r r o e l l

1st PLACE WINNER: Make Love Not War Competition

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peter roell

cathedral city, ca/USA

WHORE OF BABYLON

acrylic on canvas

36" x 36"

24,000. USD

wwroellpe@aol.com

w.artbyroell.com

artist statement

The Whore of Babylon was conceived as a response to the terrorists' attacks of September 11, 2001. This piece explores both the horror of the carnage and the underlying conflicts between both the realities and perceptions of the terrorists and Western culture and society. The title is derived from Chapter 17 in the Book of Revelation. Guernica by Pablo Picasso also deeply influenced this composition in a desire to call to mind the power and beauty of love and peace through a focus on the horrors of war and conflict.

Sibling Rivalry: Isaac and Ishmael like the Whore of Babylon were conceived as a response to the terrorists' attacks of September 11, 2001. This composition explores the consequences of the relatively minor differences in scriptural stories in both the Koran and the Books of Moses regarding the sons of the prophet Abraham. Both Isaac (Christian) and Ishmael (Islamic) are sons of Abraham, but as their sibling rivalry played out with horrific consequences on September 11, 2001, and more tragically, continue to do so until this very day.

Paint Can Series are a grouping of images using a common template and changing words/statements that explore the underlying causes and consequences of the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001. I have produced a series of these images which I plan on eventually converting to full color limited edition, signed and numbered prints.

bio

Born in Brooklyn, New York. Graduated University of California, Berkeley, California with a BA degree in Fine Art, 1969; MA degree in Fine Art, 1971.

Selected solo exhibitions were held in California at the Jason Aver Gallery, San Francisco; Concord Gallery of Fine Art, Concord; University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara; The Stud, San Francisco; Lawson Gallery, San Francisco. Solo exhibition at the Kunstforum, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany.

Selected group exhibitions in California at the Richmond Art Center, Richmond; NCA Exhibition, Sacramento; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; Oakland Museum, Oakland; University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara; Valley Art Gallery, Walnut Creek; The Stud, San Francisco; San Francisco Arts Festival, San Francisco; Lawson Gallery, San Francisco, and the Cascade Gallery, Seattle, Washington.

Selected reviews and citations:

San Francisco Chronicle review by Thomas Albright
Roell does vivid, brightly patterned interiors ... figures whose preening forms cut sinuous white or gray voids into the over-all composition. The spirits of Aubrey Beardsley and John Altoon seem to be standing in the wings. Roell has evolved a bright, witty and articulate style...

Sunday Times Herald by E.M. Polley
... Roell understands the use of pattern, and of climbing perspective, and his lively interiors with their areas of ambiguous space make the walls of the newly opened gallery sing. His figure groupings are thought provoking.

San Francisco Chronicle by Alfred Frankenstein
Peter Roell does pop-artist figures in sharp, brilliant virtuoso line often made shrewdly garish with neon-lighted color.

Lectures in Art, Baylor University by George W. Neubert

Cited in the Regional Emphasis of the Oakland Museum's Permanent Collection series

ArtSceneToday Q&A

Q: Where do you see yourself in the art scene today?

A: I see myself continuing in the tradition of narrative work that conveys a powerful message via strong composition in the style first seen in the awe inspiring Paleolithic cave paintings in Lascaux and Altamira, and continuing throughout the history of great art confronting topics and issues (social, political, cultural, economic and religious) relative and pertinent to the human condition.

Q: What is in your inspiration?

A: The perversion of great religions, mankind's inhumanity to mankind, the exploitation of large segments of humanity for the gains of a few, the disconnections between the professions of political constructs and schemes compared to the realities that people experience under their authority, a deep and abiding love of color and composition, and a fertile and vibrant interior life.

Q: What are your challenges?

A: Having only two hands with which to create my work!

Q: How did you/do you choose your medium?

A: I have generally gravitated towards acrylic paint due to the the ease of use. In most cases, the imagery and composition substantially dictate the medium from pencil to paint.

Q: Which artist has influenced you the most?

A: The list of artists is added to on a regular and frequent basis from commercial art, to signage, to advertising, to fine art. I have recently begun to see the high art in some graffiti. The particular artists who have most influenced my work are Bosch, Matisse, Rousseau, Bacon, and Wesselman to name just a few. The more accurate answer is all who have struggled to bring their inner vision to an outer, external, material reality.