8 – 25 March 2018
about the exhibition
A formal sense of geometry, precise composition and unique tonal quality typify Peter Boggs’ paintings. In this exhibition, Peter continues to explore the mysterious qualities of light through his interior and landscape paintings; “my interest is in atmospheres and tones, not the accuracy of things – more allegorical than anything illustrative or descriptive; more the idea of place so as to conjure the experience of it…” These paintings are the result of a recent trip to Europe, exploring the contrasting lights of Paris in autumn, “grey, cool and mysterious” with the “warm and sharp” light of Southern Italy. While in the south, specifically Lecce in Puglia, Peter was generously granted accessto two privately owned Second Empire Period (1852–70) palazzos which inform the interior and lush garden paintings in this exhibition.The ‘Giardino dei Sogni’ garden paintings are inspired byone of these villas and reflect the influences particular to this Southern Italian locality. Drawn to the repeating structures and formality of the garden, Peter was particularly “struck by the clipped Cypress which took on a Greek column aspect”.Rather than a literal depiction however, the works are inspired by memory and the idea of place, imbuing the paintings with a dream-like quality. Eminent art critic and historian, Professor Sasha Grishin says of the artist, “Peter Boggs is one of the finest tonal painters working in Australia today. Each work is beautifully distilled, resolved geometrically and tonally and where within the subdued palette there is a magical glowing inner luminosity.”
Born in New Zealand, Peter studied at Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, and taught painting and drawing in England and Spain before moving to Australia in 1987. He has held over fifty solo exhibitions in New Zealand and Australia, and was a finalist in both the McMillan Ford Art Award and the Fleurieu Biennale, South Australia. In 1998, he won the Tattersall’s Club Landscape Art Prize and more recently in 2008 was awarded the winner of the Kedumba Drawing Award, NSW. In March and April of 2014, the survey exhibition, ‘Mysterious Realities; the art of Peter Boggs’ was held at Orange Regional Gallery NSW.Peter’s work is represented in various collections including Parliament House, Kedumba Drawing Collection, Castlemaine Art Gallery, University of Queensland Art Museum, Newcastle Art Gallery, News Limited, Tattersall’s Club, Telstra, NZ Education Board and Auckland City Art Gallery (New Zealand).
