Peter Combe

BIOGRAPHY

Peter Combe Biography

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am consumed by the subtle magic that occurs when playing with light, color and movement in my art making. Whether punched or shredded, I appropriate household paint swatches and make mostly 3 dimensional artworks. These artworks transform and change subtly as the viewer shifts from his/her vantage point. There is a magic that occurs, a trick of the eye where color seems to occupy space - a void - at once ethereal, yet seen from another angle the whole appears as if a ghostly image, veiled in gossamer.

The artworks are many layered and full of experimentation, sometimes subtle and at other times less so. I enjoy the science of colour, how the implementation of a single colour, when applied to a small incremental tonal range, can transform a work either subtly or substantially. Oftentimes I repeat an image, yet each permutation is unique. I will rework the image multiple times working through different colour designations. Often this effect alters the subsequent works in subtle ways while in others the change appears dramatic. 

I draw from a full spectrum of 1,100 colours. I work tonally - each of the single colour placements are based on tone rather than hue. This mode of placement achieves a Pissaro-esque pointillist finish. I will come back to the work and focus on achieving monochromatic elements - designating variations of a single hue to a desired area - not dissimilar to Andy Warhol's screen prints of celebrities - the way he designated non-representational monochromatic areas of hue, and how they change form one variation of the same portrait to the next.

Another element to the work is the constant change and flux that is mostly produced by the viewers changing vantage points, an effect that is difficult to imagine whilst not being present before the work. These artworks do not photograph well. It is impossible to capture the kinetic element - an element whereby the viewer's motion or movement dictates the artworks transformative component.    

A single light source projected at the colour side of the discs produces a magical result especially when viewed directly before the work. It is almost as if tiny LED lights shine between and bounce off the backsides (text side) of the paper discs. If lit by natural light, these artworks change throughout the day. While working on these pieces, my favorite time of the day is the gloaming - it is at that time that the colours seem to come alive subtly yet rather dramatically at the same time - it becomes a still point for me as an artist.

It is these characteristics that propel me forward, to continue experimenting with the interplay of light, movement and colour. 

 

 
 
Selected Exhibitions:

2019, PIXEL POP ART, Jaffa Museum, Jaffa, Israel 

2018, TEXT MESSAGES, Lanoue Gallery, Boston, MA
2018, OBSESSED, K Imperial Fine Art, San Francisco, CA.
2018, TIMELESS, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami, FL.
2018, TEXT MESSAGES, Lanoue Gallery, Boston, MA.
2018, UNTITLED, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami, FL.
2018, VELOUX/COMBE, Krause Gallery, New York, NY.
2018, ISLAND CONTEMPORARY IV, The Captiva Fondation, Captiva Island, FL
2018, POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, Gallery 524, New York, NY.
2018, GROUP 2018, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2018, EMERGING TO ESTABLISHED, Krause Gallery, New York, NY.
2018, POST-WAR MEETS TODAY, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami, FL.

2017, SUMMER GROUP SHOW, Krause Gallery, New York, NY.  
2017, TIME & PLACE, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami, FL.
2017, WINTER GROUP SHOW, Krause Gallery, New York, NY.

2016, PETER COMBE, STARS & STRIPES, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
2016, POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, Sikkema Jenkins & Co Gallery, New York, NY.

2015, ROUND SQUARE, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami, FL
2015, SUMMER CONTEMPORARY, Rarity, Mykonos, Greece
2015, KONFETTIKUNST, Back Gallery Project, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2015, FORMS & FACES, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami, FL
2015, POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York, NY
2015, LA/SF, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
 
2014, "PETER COMBE", Lanoue Gallery, Boston, MA
2014, PLAY, Galerie C.O.A., Montréal, QC, Canada.
2014, ART PERSPECTIVES, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami, FL.
2014, COMPLIMENTARY COLOR, Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
2014, PETER COMBE & EDWARD LENTSCH, Lanoue Gallery, Boston, MA.
2014, “PETER COMBE”, YOUR NAME IN LIGHTS BY JOHN BALDESSARI, Illuminated Billboard, Monnaie de Paris, Paris, France.
2014, POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York, NY.

2013, Drugstore Beetle (Sitodrepa Paniceum) II, California State University, Special Collections Library, Long Beach, CA.
 
2012, POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, Sikkema Jenkins & Co Gallery, New York, NY.
 
2011, POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, Cheim & Read Gallery, New York, NY.
2011, “PETER COMBE”, YOUR NAME IN LIGHTS BY JOHN BALDESSARI, Illuminated Billboard, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
2011, David Horvitz Satellite Exhibition, Les Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France.
2011, “THIS IS NOT A LOVE SONG”, DIGITAL NATIVES, Electronic Billboard Burrard Street Bridge, City of Vancouver Public Art Program, Vancouver, Canada.
 
2010/11, PETER COMBE; PUNCHED & SHREDDED, Smith Andersen North, San Anselmo, CA.

2010, CALIFORNIA OPEN, TAG, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA., Curator: Karen Moss, Director of Exhibitions, Orange County Museum of Art.
2010, TWITTER/ART+SOCIAL MEDIA, Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver, Canada. Curators: Dr. Maria Lantin, Director of the Intersections Digital Studios Research Centre at the Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Hank Bull, Exectutive Director at Centre A., Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art.

2009, 3rd COAST NATIONAL, Curated by Fairfax Dorn, Co-founder & Executive Director Ballroom Marfa, Marfa TX., KSpace Contemporary, Corpus Christi, TX
2009, 4th NATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION, Curated by Janet Bishop, Curator of Painting & Sculpture at SFMoMA., Axis Gallery, Sacremento, CA.
2009, CALIFORNIA OPEN, Curated by Michael Zakian, Director of Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, TAG Gallery, Santa Monica, CA.
2009, 24th TALLAHASSE INTERNATIONAL, Curated By Faculty, Museum of Fine Art, Florida State University, FL.

2006, DRAPART, Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona, Barcleona, Spain.

2005, ART+5, One Point Six Gallery, Vancouver, Canada.
2005, KILLER, One Point Six Gallery, Vancouver, Canada.
 
Artist talks:
April, 2015, Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 

Art Fairs:
2018, AQUA MiAMI,  Robert Fontaine Gallery
2018, PULSE, MIAMI, K Imperial Fine Art
2018, ART MIAMI, Robert Fontaine Gallery
2018, SEATTLE ART FAIR, K Imperial Fine Art
2018, ART MARKET SAN FRANCISCO, K Imperial Fine Art

2017, PALM BEACH MODERN + CONTEMPORARY, Robert Fontaine Gallery
2017, ART MIAMI, Andrea Schwartz Gallery
2017, ART MIAMI, Robert Fontaine Gallery
2017, ART NEW YORK, Andrea Schwartz Gallery
2017, ART PALM BEACH, Robert Fontaine Gallery
2017, ART WYNWOOD, Robert Fontaine Galleryg

2016, SOFA CHICAGO, Cordesa Fine Art
2016, CONTEXT ART MIAMI, Robert Fontaine Gallery
2016, ART MIAMI, Andrea Schwartz Gallery
2016, SCOPE BASEL, Robert Fontaine Gallery
2016, ART WYNWOOD, Robert Fontaine Gallery
 
2015, ART SILICON VALLEY, Andrea Schwartz Gallery
2015, X CONTEMPORARY, Robert Fontaine Gallery
2015, SCOPE ART FAIR, Robert Fontaine Gallery
2015, ART MIAMI, Andrea Schwartz Gallery
2015, MIAMI PROJECT, Robert Fontaine Gallery
2015, ART WYNWOOD, Robert Fontaine Gallery
2015, ART PALM BEACH, Robert Fontaine Gallery
 
2014, CONTEXT ART MIAMI, Robert Fontaine Gallery
2014, ART MARKET SAN FRANCISCO, SBArts
2014, PHOTO L.A., Smith Andersen North Gallery

2013, PHOTO L.A., Smith Andersen North Gallery
 
2012, PHOTO L.A., Smith Andersen North Gallery

2011, PHOTO L.A., Smith Andersen North Gallery


Collections:

Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA, USA
Microsoft, Redmond, WA, USA

Laurence Hallier, Los Angeles, CEO and Founder Show MediaGroup
David Kensington, San Francisco, Principal, David Kensington & Associates
Yves Navarre (Estate), Paris (France), Author
David Nazarian, Los Angeles, CEO Nimes Capital & Angella Nazarian - Author 
Sam Nazarian, Las Vegas, Founder and CEO, SBE Entertainment 
Ryan Seacrest, Los Angeles, Entertainer
Mark Smucker, Ohio, J.M. Smucker Co.
Mark Vadon, Seattle, Board Member, The Home Depot Inc
Chris Viehbacher, Boston, former CEO Sanofi


Addendum:

- The New Museum, New York, NY in 2010, Peter Combe Ode to NYC