The Oregon Coast Council for the Arts welcomes the exhibition, “The World Unmade,” by Roger Peet to the Runyan Gallery at the Newport Visual Arts Center from May 5 to June 4. Peet will present large-scale linoleum relief and silkscreen print material with hand-painted elements and collage. The exhibit will also include a survey of his recent print works on paper. The First Friday opening reception for “The World Unmade” will be held May 5, 5-7pm, at the VAC, with an artist talk scheduled for 6pm during the opening.
Roger Peet is a multi-disciplinary artist, printmaker and muralist living in Portland. Born in South Africa and raised internationally, Peet come to the United States in 1998 to study sociology at Oberlin College in Ohio. His current work in graphic art addresses issues of extinction, biocultural diversity and environmental disaster with an emphasis on predator-prey relationships and representations of under-appreciated species. He creates imagery by hand, using analog methods of paper and film cutting, linoleum block-printing and stencil to create expressive, information-rich narrative images. Peet is also a writer, installation artist and puppeteer.
“For this exhibit, I have created several series of large-format print works addressing the contemporary and historical crises of our relationship with the natural world, with an emphasis on oceans,” Peet says. “I examine the colonial history of invasive species, the realms of nature menaced by climate change, deep-sea mining and ocean acidification, and the cycles of life that link the open ocean to the heart of the continents. Several of the works were created in association with the New York City artist Swoon.”
Roger Peet often works in the collaborative arena of artist collectives and associations. He is an active member of the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, a decentralized and international network of 30 artists committed to social, environmental, and political engagement. He coordinates the Endangered Species Mural Project and helps to run the Flight 64 cooperative print studio, both in Portland.
Roger Peet has exhibited his work in solo and group shows across the United States and internationally, including Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, Brooklyn, Dublin and Amsterdam. He has created public murals in Sandpoint, Idaho, Portland, Oregon, and Chiapas, Mexico. (For Peet’s complete bio and exhibitions history, visit http://justseeds.org/artist/rogerpeet).
Roger Peet’s work has been recognized through artistic development grants and residencies from the Oregon Arts Commission, the Regional Arts & Culture Council, the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, the Cladera Arts Center and The Ford Family Foundation.
The Runyan Gallery is open 11am to 6pm, Tuesday Sunday.