Bio:
Peter Barnitz is a contemporary painter, sculptor and installation artist. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (2004) from Loyola University of New Orleans and his Master of Fine Arts Degree (2011) from the University of New Orleans. He currently works as the resident artist and head basketball coach at Kenner Discovery Health and Sciences Academy High School. In 2012, he established the Barnitz Academy of Fine Arts, where he instructs art workshops for children and adults. In 2014, Mr. Barnitz was appointed to the Kenner Rivertown Arts Council, where he serves as the Chairman. He was born and raised in Metairie, LA and currently lives and works out of his home studio in Kenner, LA.
Artist Statement:
As a multi-media artist my work responds to the power and expression of life, nature, gravity, emotion and movement. My work consist of mixed media paintings and constructions using a personal vocabulary of line, gestural marks, drips, color, texture and found objects. Through the use of these elements, I simplify form to create neutral experiences intended to generate both thoughtful and thoughtless contemplation, which correspond to a sense of harmony with the world and oneself. In a world filled with the constant bombardment of technology, distraction and confrontation, we must find a place of peace and compromise. The wide variety of subject matter in my artworks stems from a continuous and honest investigation into our fascinating and ever changing world.
The power of simplicity through
repetition is a significant theme throughout the work I create. The most complex blueprints and organisms in
the universe can be broken down into basic elements, which are the building
blocks of the world in which we live. Through the use of mark-making, I simplify
those elements to create neutral experiences intended to generate both
thoughtful and thoughtless contemplations, which correspond to a sense of
harmony with the world and oneself. This
simplification reveals the ideas of the escape from space and time, Zen,
meditation, juxtaposed, superimposed, minimalism, a-focal art, science, and art
of the human hand.
The
pattern is a visual portrayal of the idea of doing
without thinking, which is similar to the surrealist idea of automatic drawing
but engages a learned progression of mind to hand coordination, through
practice and rhythm, at a moment in time.
For example, the motion offense in basketball is a never ending
continuation where the whole team is constantly moving in unison, all reacting
and relating to one another based on where the ball is on the court and how the
defense reacts. Through practice,
repetition and discipline, this movement becomes automatic, and the team reacts
without thinking, always knowing where the teammates are located. Similar to what is taught in the practice of
tai chi and Zen, my pattern is the whole mind and body working in harmony. Many of these patterns are created within a
single session of non-stop painting, where decisions of what line goes where become
similar to breathing. I consider the web
patterns to be a visual representation of concentration, patience, poise and
the human spirit. These repetitive ideas
were ingrained in my everyday activities at a very young age, especially
through practice and preparation in athletics, all the way through my
collegiate basketball career and into my art discipline.
The
simple triangle pattern using rhythmic brush strokes on a large scale canvas,
combined with the colors overlaying dot pattern, creates an intentionally
tranquil painting. It is Abstract
Expressionism united with Australian Aborigines paintings, where the
celebration of the process of painting collides with a spiritual, meditative goal. The combination of simple repetitive dots and
brush strokes, are intended to create an intricate web of seemingly infinite
space. The contrast between the
dot-pattern on top of the brush stroke web pattern, trigger a unique recipe of
shapes within the painting that enhances a sense of tranquility or excitement,
depending on the individual. The idea of
patterns within patterns exposes the development of a second inspiration in the
process involving the web pattern in reaction to the second overlaying pattern,
signifying the interpretation of the unconscious and the acceptance of
life. The second overlaying dot pattern
is a deliberate revealing of the automatic natural web pattern that suggests
both a rhythmic beat, as well as, a guide to what can be seen within the
pattern through my eyes. The combination
of these values encourage a contemplative, tranquil, balanced and relaxed
response, where the viewer is engulfed in a cloud of networks, persuading the
viewer to allow their eyes to explore
the surface. Similar to my web pattern
paintings, Mark Tobey’s paintings and drawings, such as The Advance of History,
focuses on meditation and the interpretation of space.
The
pattern is not only a symbol of hard work and determination, but a celebration
of life, nature, up close or from a far, where the process of creating collides
with a spiritual and meditative goal. It
is a way of life, a discipline, a place of peace and contemplation. It is a creation of depth, space and motion,
simple and complex, like a song or the silence between beats of a drum.
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