FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

For his latest solo exhibition MOTHER OF WAR, internationally acclaimed artist Peter Passuntino looks back to the Vietnam War in a series of drawings that reflect that devastating conflict's impact on multiple levels, from the personal and private to the public and political. "In the year of 1968, I was so affected by the terrible war in Vietnam that it came to influence my art. I did numerous drawings of war births — images so startling they shocked even me. I was so gratified when the war finally ended but was also devastated by so many casualties," says Passuntino. "We all believed this terrible mistake could never happen again. Pain has no memory unfortunately. And we are flirting with thoughts of war anew. As an artist, I feel I must show the ugly nature of the possibility for another insane war."

Passuntinos's work conveys surreal narratives that dig at the roots anchoring the world and shape encounters between humanity and nature. He frequently employs images of female and male bodies juxtaposed against implausible space. Through a layering of visual, narrative and symbolic motifs, he creates multiple viewing planes, evoking conflicting feelings in the viewer.

He was born in Chicago and attended the School of the Art Institute from 1954 through 1958, later studying in Paris at the Institut des Arts et Archeologie and the Sir William Hayter Atelier. His first solo show was at the Artists Guild in Chicago. In the 1970s, he co-founded the figurative expressionist art group Rhino Horn, contesting the New York School rhetoric by promoting political and social discourse through American Figurative Expressionism. He continues to show internationally and his work is in numerous private and public collections.

MOTHER OF WAR runs from October 5th to October 22nd at The Storefront Project on the Lower East Side. An opening reception will be held Thursday October 5th from 6-9pm.

For more information on this show please contact: Gina Pagano at g@storefrontproject.com
The Storefront Project: 
http://www.storefrontproject.com
Peter Passuntino
http://www.passuntino.com