ALAN PECKOLICK
Kenneth Martina
It can be reasoned
that for as long as there have been urban environments, artists have found inspiration
in them. From Greek temple architects to Guy Dubord, creative people have made
meaning from the many layers of culture, changing technologies, sense of accelerated
time or political and aesthetic allegiances within the cityscape. Alan Peckolick
is an artist who continues the tradition of using the city as a departure point.
He paints both nostalgia and fragments of decline.
His series of paintings
on sign fragments captures the lost art of painted advertisement that was prevalent
in New York City. The images are of signs that no longer function as intended
but take on another role as reminders of an older, early 20th century New York.
He admits that “these signs are disappearing; so many are now gone.”
The images communicate peeling, decay, and environmental ruin. The joyful aspects
of Peckolick’s images are the preservation and dissemination of the imagery
and the added narrative of an uncovering that sometimes happens through renovation
or demolition.
This Bronx native
mixes the environment that he knows with his skills as a former award-winning
advertising designer. This designer turned artist creates engaging images rendered
in bright hues and detailed enough to convince us that his dedication to craft
remains fresh and strong.
Peckolick is a
master at rendering disrepair. The detail in the paintings is a result of the
careful capture and study of urban sign fragments. The process is akin to archeology.
First, he focuses on his subject with his camera, a digging of material. Next,
the photographs ultimately serve as the raw visual wares for painting, a process
begun in 1998. An encyclopedia of pictures exists as evidence of the artist’s
travel and focused eye.
Peckolick reclaims, represents, and invites us to join in his love for the seductive
pentimento of the painted advertisement. Each work tells a story of a lost era
yet contains the artist’s very contemporary attitude toward the materials
of the city. All that is urban is a deep well of inspiration flowing with joy,
nostalgia, and ruin.
