When in Roma...

June 22nd, 2024 at Black Spring Books



 On view for one night only: When in Roma... took place on June 22nd from 7 pm to 10 pm at Black Spring Books in Williamsburg. This show will place works by George Peck, including eleven new pastel works by the artist, collectively titled Surreal Abstractions, in dialogue with a selection of poems and music. While Peck is internationally known for his paintings and large-scale installation pieces, he started working with pastels in the 1970s, making studies for his early shaped paintings; though, in 2020, amidst the pandemic, Peck returned to working with pastels.

The pandemic’s unreal reality and the environmental shift of lockdown conjured a surrealistic atmosphere for Peck, which provoked him to turn to automatic compositions and adopt the language of The Surreal. He has since maintained a near-daily practice of producing these pastels—each is a product of unpremeditated action; you can find video documentation of his process here.

When in Roma... speaks to George’s emotional response to his last trip to Rome, where he found this surrealistic atmosphere profoundly heightened and saturated even further, as the city’s charged with past and imagined histories. As a result, these works capture the colors, the light, and the motifs reflected in this atmosphere. All becomes tangible past symbolic.

Throughout his practice, Peck challenges color, light, material, and motifs while proposing new modes of seeing and understanding our entirely new reality.

A portion of the artist’s proceeds will go to The THANC Foundation—a remarkable non-profit organization that pioneers research and education in the early detection and treatment of Thyroid, Head, and Neck Cancer. George greatly admires Dr. Mark L. Urken, MD, FACS, the founder of THANC, for his expertise in helping many patients. 


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