About

Born in Budapest, Hungary, George Peck has been living in the United States since 1957. He studied at City College in New York, and studied with Ron Gorchov and Tony Smith at Hunter College, CCNY, as well as studying Interaction of Color with Josef Albers. He has participated in numerous exhibitions throughout the course of his career, and was a visiting professor at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in 1995.

His work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions at institutions throughout the United States and Europe, such as; The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Kate Ganz Gallery, Leo Castelli Gallery and Bette Stoler Gallery, New York; The High Museum of Art, Georgia; Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museums Hagen, The American Embassy, Germany; Baraz Gallery, Istanbul; Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, and many others.

His work has been reviewed extensively in such publications as The New York Times, Art in America, ArtNews, Art on Paper, and Artforum, among others. His paintings are represented in numerous private and public collections in both the United States and Europe, such as: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art and Grey Art Gallery, NY; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm, Sweden; Museum of Applied Arts, Kiscelli Museum and Ernst Museum, Budapest, Hungary. George Peck lives and maintains studios in both New York City and Buskirk, NY.

 

GEORGE PECK: ARTIST STATEMENT

My current work continues ongoing investigations of abstraction, color and light as well as my perpetual desire to push the boundaries of visual thinking. This investigation into the conceptual and pictorial practice began early. The experience I had with the classic 1966 collaboration, “9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering”, left a permanent impression. This event, specifically the work of John Cage, broke down the conventional experience of the viewer. It provided a new and alternative way for the audience to experience and respond to music and art.

I myself continue to pose the question of how art is related to the past, and the question of how it is made and seen. As a young artist I was exposed to Josef Albers’ Interaction of Colors. After that, I worked with Tony Smith, whose rigorous discipline, sense of scale, and masterful use of simplicity left a very powerful impression on me. By contrast, the structural emphasis of the work of Ron Gorchov, with whom I also studied, impressed me with its near-meditative effect. I have contemplated at length the work of Moholy-Nagy, whose significance is never lost in my mind. The sway and authority of these influences continues to move me as my own work evolves.

The paintings I made early in my career had a strong conceptual base: they were monochromatic and painted on a structure that bent the surface. These works had pictorial illusion and a very strong physicality, working simultaneously with and against each other. Most recently, this interest in physicality has evolved into constructions that are multilayered, both literally and conceptually; they utilize the digital technology that is so prevalent in our contemporary world and attempt to break down the boundaries between painting (the static image) and film/video (the moving image).

To the viewer, these works appear in a constant state of animation, incorporating the “moving image” in their physical anatomy. The projection transforms before our eyes, dematerializing color, movement and even subject matter. Behind the layered references, these works take into consideration the new uncertainties we now face in our political, conceptual, and social landscape, which calls for critical commentary. Subject matter takes on an important new role in where the creation of a fresh conceptual space is simultaneously based in reality and illusion. Over the last two decades, my work has increasingly reflected a need to respond more directly to issues in the current sociopolitical fabric.

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 

2018. BOOKBURN / Library of Books Burned, Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, New York, NY.

2016. Santo Domingo Heritage Trail arts project, Santo Domingo Pueblo, NM.

2013. DREAMSTATE, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.

2011. DREAMSTATE, Little Synagogue Gallery, Eger, Hungary.

2009. Ladies and Gentlemen… Little Synagogue Gallery, Eger, Hungary.

2005. Projected Paintings, Ernst Museum, Budapest, Hungary.

2003. Florence Lynch Gallery, One Person Exhibition, New York, NY.

2002. Layered Time – Layered Paint, (Selected Paintings Spanning Thirteen Years), Kiscelli Museum, Budapest, Hungary.

2000. Varfok Gallery, The Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary.

1999. Kate Ganz Gallery USA, Ltd, New York, NY.

          Trans Hudson Gallery, New York, NY.

1998. Trans Hudson Gallery, New York, NY.

1997. Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest, Hungary.

1996. Trans Hudson Gallery, New York, NY.

1995. Kunsthalle (Mücsarnok), Budapest, Hungary.

          Törökfürdõ (Turkish Bath), Budapest, Hungary.

          Fine Arts Museum, Budapest, Hungary.

1994. America Haus, Frankfurt, Germany.

1990. Image Gallery, Stockbridge, MA.

1985. Bette Stoler Gallery, New York, NY.

1983. Bette Stoler Gallery, New York, NY.

1980. Toni Birckhead Gallery, Cincinnati, OH.

1979. Susan Caldwell, Inc., New York, NY.

1977. Susan Caldwell, Inc., New York, NY.

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019. From the Brush to the Camera, Collegium Hungaricum, Berlin, Germany.

2018. Bridging Boundaries, Corcoran Gallery of the Arts and Design, Washington, DC

2016. Nature Art – Variations at Műcsarnok / Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary

2016. GEM/GAMEclip, Modem Museum, Debrecen, Hungary

2016. Debate Box, Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, NY

2010. Dash Gallery, New York, NY

2010. Mediating the Message, La Maison Francaise, Columbia University, NY, NY

2009. Mélyvíz, Applied Arts Museum, Budapest, Hungary

2008. Random Utterness, Hungarian Cultural Center, New York, NY

2007. The Black Madonna, Birminham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, AL

2003. Hunter College / Times Square Gallery,

          Seeing Red, Part II: Contemporary Nonobjective Painting, New York, NY

2002. Color-A Mind Of It’s Own,Kunsthalle (Mücsarnok), Budapest, Hungary

2001. Monochrome/ Monochrome?, Florence Lynch Gallery, New York, NY.

2000. Directions, Janos Gat Gallery, New York, NY.

1999. Acrylic/Plastic, Trans Hudson Gallery, New York, NY.

1997. Variations of Structure, Trans Hudson Gallery, New York, NY.

1997. After The Fall, Snug Harbor, Staten Island, NY.

1996. Current Geometries in Abstraction, Trans Hudson Gallery, New York, NY.

1996. Sight Uncertain, Trans Hudson Gallery, Jersey City, NJ.

1994. Moveable Feast of American Art, American Embassy, Bonn, Germany.

1993. Selections 93, Art Gallery at Hunter College, New York, NY.

1992. Abstraction and Reality, Montgomery Center, Jersey City, NJ.

          American Abstract Artists – Persistence of Abstraction, Traveling

          Exhibition, Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, KS.

1989. American Abstract Artists, 55 Mercer Street, New York, NY.

1983. Content in Abstraction: The Uses of Nature, The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA.

1980. Drawings, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, NY.

          In The Realm of The Monochromatic, Susan Caldwell, Inc., New York, NY.

1979. Gallery Group Exhibition, Susan Caldwell, Inc., New York, NY.

1976. Artists Invite Artists, Susan Caldwell, Inc., New York, NY.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2019. Seibel, Brendan. 

         “A Burning Need for Art” 

         Create Magazine, Adobe, February 14th, 2019 

2008. Baker, R.C.

          “The Abstract Desert – Random Utterness”

          The Village Voice, February 19th, 2008

2005. Agnes Berecz PhD, Review: Moving Images

          Art Magazine, March-April 2005, p.45-46

2003. Fyfe, Joe. Review, “The Escapist” – In Color

          www.Artcritical.com, September 2003

2000. Edit Andras PhD, “His Genes,” Elet Es Irodalom,

          50th Issue, 2000.

2000. Goodman, Jonathon. “George Peck Works On Paper 1993-1999,”

           Art on Paper March-April 2000. Volume 4, p.76-77

1999. Koplos, Janet. “Dematerializing the Canvas.” Art In America

          April 1999: p.134 – 137.

1997. Goodman, Jonathan. “Review.” Art In America January 1997: p.93.

1995. Sturcz, János. PhD George Peck: Composite Pictures. Budapest:

          Kunsthalle Mucsarnok, 1995.

1987. Wei, Lilly. “Talking Abstract.” Art In America July 1987 p. 80 – 97.

1985. Rayner, Vivien. “Review.” The New York Times 8 February 1985: p.C32.

 

FILMS AND VIDEOS

2002. Layered Time – Layered Paint. Film by Gyorgy Beck. 12 minutes, 12 seconds,

2002. George Peck. Interview: Duna TV. 3 minutes, am and pm.

           Budapest, Hungary, September 29, 2002.

1997. “Mü-Terem-Tés”(Art Magazine). George Peck; Master Class.

           Interview by Katalin T. Nagy. Danube T.V., Budapest, Hungary

           19 December 1997.

1995. Making of a painting, George Peck 1995. Dir. Istvan Javor.

           Fekete Doboz (Black Box), Budapest, Hungary. 1995.

           8 minutes.

1994. George Peck at Trans Hudson Gallery. Dir. Sherry Daniels. 1994.

 

PUBLICATIONS BY THE ARTIST

1987. Peck, George, et al. “Talking Abstract”

          Art In America July 1987: p. 80 – 97.

1982. Wei, Lilly, and George Peck. “Luibov Popova: Interpretations of Space.”

          Art In America, (Vol. 70, no. 9) October 1982: p.94 – 104.

 

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Best Products; Richmond, Virginia.

Brooklyn Museum of Art; Brooklyn, New York.

Budapest Museum of Fine Arts; Budapest, Hungary.

Cincinnati Central Trust; Cincinnati, Ohio.

Grey Art Gallery, New York University; New York, NY.

High Museum of Art; Atlanta, Georgia.

Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum der Stadt Hagen, Germany

Metropolitan Museum of Art; New York, NY.

Moderna Museet; Stockholm, Sweden.

Museum of Applied Arts; Budapest, Hungary.