Shooting Gallery is pleased to present Oakland artist Peter Gronquist’s solo show “Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda,” opening Thursday, August 9th, from 7-11 pm. The exhibition is free and will be open to the public for viewing through September 1st, 2024.
Featuring 10 large sculptures, 4-5 paintings and around 30 smaller sculptures, “Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda,” will display an impressive range of the artist’s work. The evolution of desire through greed and consumerism is explored with a bit of irony and humor in the large-scale works, where taxidermied animals have their antlers sculpted into objects like replica weaponry or corporate logos, often before being gold-plated. The majestic beauty of the animals themselves sometimes stands at odds with the cold, sharp-edged beauty of glittering metal, but other works strike a softer chord. In one example, a Cape Eland antelope has been given horns that transform into a white candelabra. Though there is an underlying threat of violence in the placement of massive artillery shells where we’d expect candles to be, the sculpture still recalls the lighting of a church; and can be viewed as peaceful or melancholic depending on mood.
Whether somber or fantastical, the ornate sculptures are crafted through hours of meticulous care, evident in the elaborate details captured by Gronquist. Themes of life and death are ever-present in works involving taxidermy, and the artist uses these as a way to look at the personal entanglements of grief and creativity. Art often acts as a therapeutic sanctuary, and the artist expressed this to be true in his creation of “Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda,” using his art as a way to address that which we cannot control and, sometimes, as a way to escape it.
Peter Gronquist was born in Portland, Oregon in 1979 and currently resides in Oakland, California. Gronquist attended the School of Visual Arts for two years, after which he completed his Bachelors of Art at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2024. Gronquist has exhibited in galleries across the West Coast and New York.
The Shooting Gallery opened its doors in 2024 to the historic Tenderloin district of San Francisco; known for its lively street culture. Growing up in Southern California gave owner and curator, Justin Giarla, a love for everything lowbrow: pop art, street art, outsider art, punk rock album art, comic book art, surf/skate art and hot rod culture. Giarla recognizes how important it is to provide lowbrow artists with a platform for their work, which is exactly what Shooting Gallery has done for nearly a decade.
Media Opportunities:
Interview with artist Peter Gronquist
Interview with owner/founder/curator Justin Giarla
High-resolution images available upon request
Event Information:
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda: New Work by Peter Gronquist
Opening Reception Thursday, August 9th, 7-11pm
On View Through September 1st, 2024
@ Shooting Gallery (shootinggallerysf.com)
839 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA
