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Peter Kempson
kempeter@aol.com
www.pkempson.com
New Work/Page 2
kempeter@aol.com
www.pkempson.com
New Work/Page 2
Pursuing a career in advertising, Peter Kempson left New York and made his way to Los Angeles, where he has garnered numerous awards for creativity, including an Emmy. His art works have been published in magazines and featured on television on many occasions.
Los Angeles is a city that welcomes outsiders, embraces them and encourages them to develop their talents. Arriving in L.A. more than a decade ago, Peter Kempson’s career has flourished, and a few years ago he launch himself into a second profession in fine art with energy, dedication and passion. Since his first show in Pacific Palisades in 2007 Peter has gained an avid following. Although relatively new on the L.A. artists’ scene, ten of his paintings were selected for a show at the prestigious Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). At the moment he is represented by TAG Gallery in Santa Monica, where he had a solo show early in 2009.
Peter’s inspiration for painting comes from his adopted home of Los Angeles. The open suburbs, the lush vegetation, the sweeping vistas framed by hills, mountains and sea are in stark contrast to the confining vertical-thrusting skyscrapers and concrete urbanity of Manhattan where he lived before. He captures the city, landscapes and the radiant light of Los Angeles with a Technicolor palette and depicts the nonchalance and self parody of L.A. with wit and empathy.
“Although her full name in Spanish is Il Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles, everybody usually refers to her by her initials, as we do for a great ball player or a beloved boss. She’s blessed with natural beauty and striking examples of modern architecture, yet despite a majestic coincidence of mountains and sea, her most recognized landmark, – her Eiffel Tower- is a half ruined real estate sign erected in the 1920’s up in the hills.
L.A. spins paradox on top of paradise with un-self conscious ease beneath the pleasant California skies. She’s a city where validation may come in the form of an Oscar statuette or as a stamp on your valet parking ticket; where lap-dogs visit shrinks while wild coyotes roam the backyards, where divas shop in country stores and dreams are manufactured in entertainment factories.
Since arriving in L.A., I remain constantly fascinated by the magnificent mosaic of contradictions. I see a city as American as Hamburger, though she speaks a hundred different languages; a city of angels and demons, where people live in palaces, dingy apartments and sometimes in cardboard boxes; and where palm trees vie with telephone poles for dominance of the skyline.
Working from my own photographs and armed with brushes, paint and a sense of humor, I aim to capture facets of this fabulous, funky city in images beyond what the tourists see.
I have been encouraged by the enthusiastic response to my work by Angelenos who share my love of this city. One critic has called my paintings “Love notes to L.A.” – an interpretation that is a little surprising since I portray her with billboards, graffiti and all. I suppose my affection for this city, now my home and my muse, shows through in my work.”
Peter Kempson has a B.A. in English from the University of Virginia, but his studies there began in the School of Architecture, an interest which is reflected in many of his paintings. While at the University of Virginia he was Art Editor of the student magazine. His artistic talent, however, revealed itself much earlier. Encouraged by parents, who recognized his abilities when he was a small child, Peter has been drawing and painting “since he could pick up a crayon.”
Exhibitions 2010
2010 May/June TAG Gallery. Santa Monica,CA
2010 Tag Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA (Group Show)
2010 "Score VIII" at VIVA Gallery, Sherman Oaks, CA
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* None of the artworks may be copied or reproduced without the written permission of the Artist