Oliver Herring, Untitled, mixed media, 2009

The MoMA Junior Associates entered the Prospect Heights studio that Oliver and Peter share to find a long and narrow immaculate space with Peter’s paintings along the sides and Oliver’s work on the walls at the far end. Oliver, originally from Germany, looked like he had stepped out of a John Currin painting. He has a very thin neck and a large head (not in an unattractive way but in a fascinating and aesthetically pleasing way). He has been in NYC for 19 years and received his MFA from Hunter College. Somehow along the way he became sidetracked by knitting. As he explained it, it became a tool for him to figure out whether or not he should be an artist as he originally wanted to study medicine. It all began when a friend of his committed suicide due to his HIV status. As a gay man in New York City, Oliver was freaked out by this and as a reaction, he created a figurative piece using tape, previously he had only painted. For many years he knit the same piece over and over. It was a way for him to free up his mind. However, it began to feel anti-social and so when he had a pinched nerve in his arm and he was unable to knit, he began to experiment with video. It was a more collaborative process and he enjoyed it.

“Task,” a participatory event that includes raves in which a designated area is covered with mylar and a whole group of props are brought into the space is an ongoing event that Oliver initiated many years ago. The participants are asked to write a task and put it in the pool. They then take a task and are supposed to realize it in some manner. When you are done with that task you write a new one. Oliver explained that since its inception, it has taken on a life of its own.

Oliver Herring, Photosculpture

As an antidote to the spontaneous videos Oliver works on he also creates photosculpture. This process involves affixing photos of a person’s body to a lifesize sculpture of that person. The photos are printed in various colors and shapes almost creating a mosaic. It is a tremendously tedious and detailed process, but one in which unique and haunting works are created. It is clearly cathartic for the artist as well.

Oliver was highlighted in the wonderful PBS series ART21 Season 4 and you can read more about him and see more images of his work at

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/herring/index.html#

Peter and Oliver in the studio with Peter's painting

Peter explained that his work has always been an expression of his interests, talents, and values. Unlike Oliver who works in a variety of media, Peter has always painted. He may change the strategies he uses to make paintings based on subject matter, but he considers himself  first and foremost a painter. During his first two years in New York he was overwhelmed by the big city and his method for coping with that was to paint only umbrellas. Next he painted multiple protraits of Oliver using camera obscura which were influenced by a particular work by Matisse in which he painted a green stripe down the face of his subject. Next Peter turned to self-portraits in which he distorted his image using mirrors. He began to really abstract his subjects. Peter explained to us that there has always been tension between figuration and abstraction in his work. By following his values as a person he has recently become very active in community politics and that has informed his artwork a great deal. His work continues to be an expression of his experiences but he never imagined he would be making this kind of work.