This artist defines

the dynamic connection

between life and art

in his own unique way. 
 

Peter T. Tunney is a man with a lot on his mind.  But, in spite of an almost continuous barrage of thoughts, feelings, opinions and ideas that might appear to the listener like a random Blitzkrieg of mental energy directed toward, but not exactly to, the listener, they do cohere and assume a vector that has the power to convince, somehow converting you into an unwitting ally for any of his highly-spirited causes.Those ‘causes’ can run the gamut from global warming to economic meltdown to spiritual Nihilism, to urban survival, to a recently-read dead poet’s view of life’s never-ending follies, to selling art. 

Tunney enjoying one of his ubiquitous cigars as he points out a work in his 5th Avenue gallery The Peter Tunney Experiment.

He is a perpetual motion machine, constantly scanning the world out of the corner of his eye; an urban cowboy who rides herd on a busy gallery staff, all the while fielding cell phone calls that seem to end in directives like, “yes, do it!, or, “of course we can…just make it happen!” or, next Tuesday in L.A.?- see you there.” Tunney is a man at the center of a whirlwind, where his vantage point allows him to see all the moving parts in his busy life and still—somehow—make the trains run on time.  And for anyone close enough to get caught up in that vortex, the ride can be, at the same time exhilarating and exhausting, rewarding and overwhelming, thought-provoking and mind-numbing.  But when you are released back to earth, you might feel slightly tattered, but somehow better off for it all.

Peter Tunney is a voracious reader with a self-described list of life-skills that reads like a James Thurber novel about a man that has been granted the gift to live the lives of many men, simultaneously – otherwise, the extent of his action-packed life story and the full range of his accomplishments, to date, would appear to belie his age and youthful appearance.  Tunney’s long list of accomplishments are borne of experience self-described as, “filled with risk and reward where I have taken amazing chances and been lucky enough to survive.” 

“Tunney is a man at the center of a whirlwind, where his vantage point allows him to see all the moving parts in his busy life and still – somehow – make the trains run on time.”

The success (to date) of this high-risk/high-reward formula might tempt him to adopt an illusion of immortality, but Tunney remains keenly aware of his human frailties.  Life appears to have taught him to adopt a damn-the–torpedoes, boundless belief in himself and his ability to survive in a world that he describes as, “careening to the brink of disaster.”

But,Tunney, the self-described adventurer, raconteur, story teller, magician, savant, investment banker and expedition leader, to name a few, is finally and after all, an artist.  And he appears to be an artist on a mission.  I asked him why, in the face of his many concerns about the self-abrogating directions that civilization appears to be inexorably moving, that he is so interested in reaching out through his art, with its apparent message of redemption and hope. His answer: “Because I remain an optimist in spite of it all.  I see the world as unbelievably merciful, not cruel– and the human condition is to find hope wherever it can.”

“I was hit by a car while riding my bike when I was 13 years old. I was technically dead and they brought me back to life.  I missed two years of school while I lay in a hospital bed and spent a total of five years recovering from that accident.  Why shouldn’t I believe in life?!  I’d like to be an idealist, but I know better; so I tried acceptance and it seems to be working for me.  It doesn’t make the world a better or less dangerous place, but it allows me to move through it and try to accomplish things that matter to me.  And art has always mattered to me.”

Tunney’s art is as varied as his interests, but currently tends to focus on a narrative style, where seemingly random images– life’s visual ephemera– are gathered from newspapers, catalogues, advertising flyers, street posters and photographs, only to be arrayed on canvas to serve as a sometimes ironic but always cogent backdrop for bold, stenciled messages that contribute to and codify the layers of meaning to be found in and behind each work.  

“Making diaries was powerful and strange: they became a kind of condensation of the experience.”

Drawn from poetic works, from literature, from the world of advertising and finally, from life in general, the medium quite literally becomes the message and it is delivered in larger-than-life style – much like the artist, himself.  Asked how he began to work in this way, Tunney shows me one of  hundreds of diaries that he has created over the years.  “Where ever and whenever I traveled, I collected things—all kinds of things—bus tickets, postcards, gum wrappers, a photo of a footprint in the sand, leaves and flowers, images of beautiful women, trinkets; whatever would remind me of the place and the people.  These would be collected, catalogued and assembled between the covers of a spiral bound book.  Sometimes I would be making one book a day.”

A sampling of memorabilia, photographs and found objects that make up one of dozens of diaries in th Tunney archives, serving as the inspiration for much of his works on canvas.

The diary contents were gathered from all corners of the world and each heavily-laden tome is in fact, a trove of memorabilia and memory, object and subject, specimen and fragile trophy, in other words a physical manifestation of Tunney’s fertile mind and imagination and his powers of observation of the seemingly irrelevant. “Making diaries was powerful and strange: they became a kind of condensation of the experience,” he tells me. “It was only a matter of time before I had to start gluing these things down on large canvases and board and begin to frame out a more systemetized statement about my thoughts and feelings.” 

Hence, this body of collage and stencil work for which he is best known.

Tunney has exhibited with Contemporary movement notables like Jean-Michael Basquiat and Keith Haring, now both passed.  His work has been called, “charged” by the critics and a look behind the scenes reveals that he is obsessively focused on the art that resides in every aspect of life and the world around us.  “My role,” he explains to me, “is to pay attention to the tiny things in life and through my art and that of others, to help focus the viewer on those things.”

Author’s Note: All the works appearing in this article are self-titled and are mixed media (acrylic and collage, on canvas). Sizes vary and pricing is available by contacting the artist at the location below.

Peter Tunney’s work is in a number of private collections and can be viewed at his gallery at 666 5th Avenue, New York City. The ground floor entrance to the gallery is on 52nd Street. His work can also be shown by appointment. More of Peter’s diaries, art and photography can be seen at www.tunneyart.com or he can be reached at 646.245.7904.

For a digital re-enactment by the poet W.E. Henley of Invictus, go to:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FadohneVKU

Tunney re-lights next to a surf board bearing a representation of his artistic work. It reads “We live in a beautiful world.”

SIDEBAR

Art as Social/Political Narrative- A Very Brief History

Art as social statement is hardly new. In fact, it may be as old as artistic expression itself.  Throughout history, civilizations relied on iconic images to accomplish their political and social objectives. Starting with cave paintings, images were created to appease and implore the gods of the animal world and forest; later the gods of the heavens and the underworld would be offered artisans’ gifts and eventually, as society ‘progressed’, images were created to ritualize and idealize the God that may have walked among us to help quell the impulses of our own unconscious and often destructive human spirit.

Only in the 20th century, with the advent of the Modern Era, did we begin to see a transition away from the pure symbology and the allegorical and mythological themes directed at the invisible forces of the Universe and begin to witness the emergence of artistic movements aimed at achieving social commentary and societal reform, right here in our midst, through the visual arts. It took the influence of modernist thinking, with all its focus on the power of science and the giant strides of industrialization, to finally reshape the agenda of the art world.

“It took the influence of modernist thinking…. to finally reshape the agenda of the art world.”

Picasso’s genius is that he was one of the first to figure that out. A handful of poets and architects came before, but it was Picasso and his colleague, Georges Braque, who spearheaded the creation of a new visual art form, papiers collés (collage) during the period 1912-15.  This mixed medium approach allowed them the freedom to incorporate various materials– wallpaper, fabric, cardboard and newsprint as well as paint and charcoal– into their compositions.  As social activists, with more than a passing interest in the emerging Futurist movement, the appropriation of a headline from their Italian manifesto, Lacerba, in a 1914 piece, for example, is intended to deliver a not-so-subtle political message for social action.

The period of the 1920s and 30s saw an intensification of the art-as-social-statement movements.  It took shape in various schools of painting, like Dadism, Surrealism and the Bauhaus School, in Germany, to name a few.  While too complex for a detailed description in this brief overview, that period saw many representations of contemporary narrative materials incorporated into artistic creations—all aimed at educating, increasing public awareness and ultimately provoking the population to act in the face of rapid social change and a range of economic and political crises which plagued the countries of Western Europe between the two world wars.

“This period from 1945 to 1970 was eventually termed, post-modernism, since most of the vitality of the pre-war modernist/Futurist movement had now been abandoned.”

After World War II, the center for artistic influence moved from badly-ravaged and culturally-depleted Europe to the U.S., and specifically, to New York City. Abstract Expressionism and its proponents eschewed the politically-charged agenda of their European predecessors and, instead, pursued a creative direction based more on pure color and form. This period extended from 1945 to approximately 1970 and was eventually termed, post-modernism, since most of the vitality of the pre-war modernist/Futurist movement had then been abandoned.The art of Peter Tunney belongs to this new generation of social commentary delivered through the visual arts. Art that incorporates everyday materials and found objects to deliver a powerful social/political message has enjoyed a brief, but intense history, when viewed through the prism of centuries of creative image-making. But its power to speak to the issues of the time and create a heightened state of awareness for the viewer attests to the strength of its message, as well as the long-established role of the artist as an agent for social awareness and change.   

It took the arrival on the scene of Andy Warhol in the late 60s and the emergence of the Contemporary Schools of the 1970s and beyond to revitalize the social agenda and return to the use of mixed media, like collage.  Artists like Lichtenstein, Johns, Rauschenberg and the Installationists actively sought out the headlines of the day and the political issues of the time to serve as inspiration for their work. The combination of cool artistic detachment and rich symbolism in many of these works, often drawn from the news of the day, were designed to challenge and shock the viewer into awareness regarding the actions of the governments, political leaders and social institutions at the time.  The period of art as social statement had returned in force.

by Richard Friswell, Editor-in-Chief 

For an excellent overview of the history of collage, go to:
http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/collage.htm

To learn more about Futurism, go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurism_(art)

For an excellent and readable overview of art movements in the Modern and Contemporary period, see:
Art in the Modern Era– A guide to styles, schools and movements by Amy Dempsey, Harry N. Abrams Press, 2002
www.abramsbooks.com

Appropriation is the term used to describe the use of outside material (often copywritten) as a component in an artistic piece.  In spite of its long history, it is not without its controversy.
Read all about it at: http://www.nysun.com/arts/original-copies-the-art-of-appropriation-at-moma/83818/
and for the Canadian debate at: http://www.appropriationart.ca/statement/letter-of-concern