Drew Peterson "A Moment Stays"

"You get what you want when the effort is put forth.  If it's right, it's right, and you know it." says Chapter 46 curator Steve Olson when discussing the drive and ambition of an artist.

At the Burnet Gallery in downtown Minneapolis, the same could be said watching Drew Peterson install his upcoming show A Moment Stays.The man is simply driven, you can instantly tell by the way he walks about the room picking up pieces, meticulously taking measurements. For such a young man, Peterson's career has been long, maintained by cohesive bodies of work which speak to audiences on very personal levels.

A Moment Stays is a 20-piece show featuring silkscreen prints and off-set lithographs inspired by Japanese woodblock prints and Impressionist lithographs. Peterson has created images that stopped me dead in their tracks. It's the potent color I first noticed, then the obscure shapes--the duplication of those shapes--and an overall sense of exuberance.

That particular sense of exuberance is what sometimes drove Peterson during the show's conception: "January is grey in Minneapolis, and I wanted to create the opposite."  The rich colors presented draw out a positive energy: a feeling of springtime when flowers are in bloom, patio seating is endless, and those beers are cold as can be.

A Moment Stays is rooted deep in the idea of relationship. The colors have a relationship with each other, often times depending on one another to direct the next move. Peterson calls it a "constant renegotiation" and notes that it really is a step-by-step process from beginning to finish. Sounds much like real life doesn't it?

And a real life experience is what you should expect at Friday's opening. A Moment Stays will invite you to look at printmaking differently. For those of you who are not familiar with the process or the artist, the show will offer a clean slate to begin looking, interpreting, and most importantly, finding things relatable to self.

We won't tell you twice.

A Moment Stays solo exhibition by Drew Peterson
January 13-February 26, 2012
Opening Reception 6 - 9pm, Friday January 13
Burnet Gallery, Le Meridien Chambers
901 Hennepin Ave.,Minneapolis, MN