The Oklahoma City Museum of Art launched the NEW FRONTIERS: Series for Contemporary Art with works by artist Jason Peters. NEW FRONTIERS was initiated to introduce the Oklahoma City community and region to the work of individual contemporary artists and to current perspectives in the field. NEW FRONTIERS connects the Museum to the international dialogue on contemporary art and emphasize the importance of the art-of-our-time as a critical and dynamic part of our daily lives.
The first exhibition of NEW FRONTIERS opened with an exhibition by New York-based artist Jason Peters titled Anti.Gravity.Material.Light. For the exhibition, Peters created sculptural installations specifically for presentation in the Museum’s galleries. The physicality of Peters’ work is reinforced by a large-scale presence and use of ready-made objects.
In an interview posted on Art 21: Blog, artist, writer, and art critic Georgia Kotretsos states, “Peters is an artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Over the years, he has discovered his muse in found objects—whether they are tires, buckets, or another material that allows him to manipulate it in vast quantities. He is a builder, a maker, and a worker who often turns trash into precious and delicate structures by using modular elements, which he then interconnects like building blocks to create entirely new forms. Peters’s large organic, illuminated structures are playful and light. Somehow they seem easy, as if the artist simply gestured with his hands in space. You’ll instantly feel like you’re 5 years old all over again and carefree. You would not realize it right away, but after a few moments passed, you’d be able to hear yourself softly gasping with astonishment. You’d be convinced you’re inside some computer game, where a suspending glowing structure is shapeshifting as you walk around it.”
During the one-month residency at the Museum, Peters worked with three area college art students in the construction and installation of his work, thus providing a great opportunity for student artists to gain significant skills and experience.
Jason Peters has had solo exhibitions at White Flag Projects, St. Louis, MO (2008); Slowdown, Omaha, NE (2007); Robert Berman Gallery, Santa Monica, CA (2007); Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA (2006); and Center for the Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM (2004). Group exhibitions include The Light Project, Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, St. Louis, MO (2008); Tooth and Nail, Stay Gold Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2006); d.u.m.b.o. art under the bridge festival, d.u.m.b.o. arts center, Brooklyn, NY (2002-2003); as well as OPTIONS 99, 9th Biennial Exhibition, Washington Project Space, Washington, D.C. (1999). He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1999.
Oklahoma City Museum of Art Director Glen Gentele said, “NEW FRONTIERS underscores the Museum’s commitment to the art-of-our-time and complements the 19th- and 20th-century collections of American and European art on view in the Museum’s galleries. It is important for the Museum to include living artists in its broad exhibition and education programs, and we look forward to further community enrichment and actively engaging audiences in thought-provoking experiences of art, through NEW FRONTIERS.”
