Shooting Gallery is pleased to present Kevin Peterson’s, Prospective, opening June 9th, 2024 from 7-11 pm. The exhibition is free and will be open to the public for viewing through July 7th, 2024.

Prospective delves into matters of the psyche in a subtle manner, offering visual cues that resonate with feelings of isolation and uncertainty. Lone figures are positioned at the center of the composition, almost always with a look that seems to be on the brink of change. Curiosity, surprise, defiance, and resignation appear on the faces of young boys and girls, painted with such lifelike detail that they could be snapshots.

Children are often viewed as symbols of innocence and new hope for a struggling world yet the subjects of Peterson’s works seem to lack the lighthearted spirit of childhood. Placed against backdrops of graffiti-covered city walls, they seem fragile and melancholy. With an expressed interest in how the past shapes our current and future selves, Peterson studies the passage of time through his expertly crafted oil paintings of youth as well as through a new focus on statues, integrating the beauty of classical art into urban life.

From the Artist:

For this show, I continue to examine the varied journeys we take through life. It’s about growing up and living in a world that is broken. These paintings are about trauma, fear and loneliness and the strength that it takes to survive and thrive. They often contain the contrast of the untainted, young and innocent against a backdrop of a worn, ragged, and defiled world. This work deals with isolation, loneliness and longing. Recently I have been addressing childhood memories, fear, and the changes that occur over the passage of time both in our imagination as well as in reality. I am always intrigued about the events of our past which influence our behavior as we grow up. This group of work illustrates life in an expanding urban environment and the prospects for our future.