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“I try to paint a glass in total restraint of any personal involvement, and without a flicker of emotion. Each one is a new one. In any observation of reality, no one ‘glass painting’ is exactly like the one before - similar to an industrial product - but original within a series - without uniqueness - without ‘stroke of genius.’”
– Peter Dreher, 1994
Quint Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the opening of Drawings and Paintings, Peter Dreher’s fifth solo exhibition at the gallery. There will be an opening reception for the artist on May 7, from 6 to 8 PM. The exhibition will feature two-dozen “Tag um Tag Guter Tag (Day by Day a Good Day)” paintings as well as a dozen “Vitrine” still-life paintings and a group of Dreher’s new flower drawings.
In 1974, Dreher started a series of good day paintings, creating roughly 120 each year. Each painting represents an image of a singular drinking glass, painted with the same palette, in the same orientation, the only subtle changes occur with the variables given by each day. Dreher has painted over 4,800 works in this series and no painting has ever been scraped or ruled out. The repetition of this action represents a gradual progression of time, each day brings new challenges and Dreher meets them, always seeing anew. This way of working has informed his practice, and with drawing as well as painting, he works in series – his newest a group of flower drawings. The tradition of still life has always been steeped in existentialism, from vanitas paintings that address mortality, to a voluptuous bouquet of flowers representing prosperity. The representation of a single empty glass could provoke thoughts of either our own mortality (an empty glass) or our own initiative to create prosperity (an empty glass waiting to be filled). The simple act of painting, day by day, leaves Dreher like a Zen master, contemplative of his past, and looking forward to the day to come.
Peter Dreher lives and works in Wittnau, Germany. He has spent the past month in San Diego drawing. Works from this new series of flower drawings will be included in this exhibition.
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