PETER WEGNER

PAINTING (WORDS)

Every word set in type is a contest between form and content. The typography inflects the meaning; the meaning tugs at the type.

My word paintings are a variant on concrete poetry, poems in which the visual presentation is at least as important as the semantics.

So far, my focus has been on pre-existing sets of words. AMERICAN TYPES uses details from the pages of mid-century type catalogs. I've worked with random password generators, sets of adverbs and prepositions, even the NATO code used by the Allies to designate bombing coordinates. My project WHAT uses category heading from the Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress catalog systems.

In each body of work, I'm working with taxonomies, examining how we organize the medium of language we all use everyday.

JOB/GIRL enamel screenprint on gessoed canvases, 60" x 28" x 1.5" and 40" x 18.5 x 1.5", 1995

AUTOCRACY/COMPETITION enamel screenprint on gessoed canvas, 54" x 30" x 1.5", 1995

NICHE enamel screenprint on gessoed canvas, 53" x 32" x 1.5", 1995

RIGID FRAME enamel screenprint on gessoed canvases, 48" x 48" x 1.5" and 32" x 32 x 1.5", 1995

BLANK BOOKS, ETC. acrylic on canvas over panels, 2006

WILL, ETC. acrylic on canvas over panels, 2006

WHAT installation view, 2006

GENERAL PRINCIPLES, ETC. acrylic on canvas over panels, 2006

CROWDS, ETC. acrylic on canvas over panels, 2006

SHADES OF GREY (DEWEY DECIMAL) 70 units: enamel & acrylic on canvas over panels, 74" x 560" x 1.25", 2005

SHADES OF GREY (DEWEY DECIMAL) (detail) 2005

MORE & MORE OF LESS & LESS gesso, aluminum & acrylic on canvas, 54" x 54" x 1.5", 2019

MAP THE GET gesso on canvas, 54" x 54" x 1.5", 2019

MAP THE GET (detail) 2019

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF A NATURAL SETTING gesso on canvas, 54" x 54" x 1.5", 2019

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF A NATURAL SETTING (detail) 2019

SMITHEREENS gesso on canvas, 54" x 54" x 1.5", 2019

SMITHEREENS (detail) 2019

IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO natural wool felt, interfacing, map pins, 35" x 35" x .25", 2019

SILVER SUBTRACTION acrylic with mica on acrylic panel with cut-outs & custom steel brackets, 59" x 46" x .5", 2010

BLUE THICKET enamel on acrylic panel with cut-outs & custom steel brackets, 59" x 46" x .5", 2010

RED MAELSTROM enamel on acrylic panel with cut-outs & custom steel brackets, 46" x 46" x .5", 2010

ABBREVIATION acrylic & gesso on panel, 60" x 60" x 1.75", 2015