Press Release: Peter Saul

10.01.97

In The Hudson (Show)Room

Peter Saul

AUSTIN, TX

Exhibition: October 16 ?cember 14, 1997

ArtPace, A Foundation for Contemporary Art | San Antonio is pleased to present a
survey of paintings by Austin-based artist Peter Saul in The Hudson (Show)Room.

Born in San Francisco, CA in 1934, Peter Saul lives and works in Austin, TX. His
career has been long and illustrious, with over 70 one-person exhibits over the past 36
years and nearly 200 group shows throughout the United States and Europe. Peter Saul is
a faculty member of the Painting Department at the University of Texas, Austin.

At ArtPace, Saul has brought together a survey of work from the 1960s through the
1990s, including works from private collections in Dallas and San Antonio. This focused
exhibit offers a glimpse of Saul's investigations of kinetic forms and bright, bold colors
and his examination of art history, pop culture and violence. Throughout his career,
Saul's oeuvre is marked by its stylized, cartoon-like imagery. Early works include
Icebox (1963) and Killer (1964), oil paintings notable for their confident
graphic forms and dynamic colors. The exhibit presents Clemunteena
Gweenberg (1971), a satirical portrait of the controversial art critic Clement
Greenberg, and the politically charged Ethel Rosenberg in the Electric Chair
(1989), works emblematic of his thematic investigations throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
The epic painting Last Judgement (1993) demonstrates Saul's interest in
challenging taboo subjects, raising issues of religion, institutions, and historical
perspective. Also included in the exhibit is the recent painting Still Life (1996),
which is anything but?haotic arrangement of objects in motion, a dizzying palate of
colors and tones, and slick, masterful brushstroke.

Peter Saul's work fits squarely in the contemporary cannon of painting, in which a
combination of challenging visual elements collide with relevant social content. Saul's
vision is exceptionally unique?troversial, humorous, political, personal, historical
and above all, visual. A survey of Saul's paintings provides the viewer with a point of
reference for the complexity and commitment of a veteran artists' career.

445 North Main Avenue San Antonio TX 78205 t 210 212 4900 f 210 212 4990 www.artpace.org