Greatness: Peter Barrickman

Milwaukee-based painter Peter Barrickman is on his way to Dallas for an opening of his paintings this weekend at And/Or Gallery. He was kind enough to sit down with WeShotJr this week for some bone-crushing art opinions.

Richardson Heights: The press release for your upcoming show says that you're presenting "a series of paintings where both the laws of physics and conventional painting have been reinvented". How so?

Peter Barrickman: To be honest I never made this claim about my work because I'm not doing any reinventing. I'm more into repeating things. Somebody may have said that to just try and get a bunch of people to show up for the opening. Although maybe Petra [Cortright]'s reinventing stuff with physics. She probably is...

RH: What is your studio situation like?

PB: Up until about a month ago I was working in an attic across the street from a bowling alley. On warm nights I could listen to the pins lazily tipping over. Then one day the landlord decided to install a new heating system exactly where I was working so I had to abandon the space. Nowadays I'm working at my apartment on a desk. It reminds me of making art projects for high school. I'm making 'visual aids'. I'll probably move into a new studio in a month or so.

RH: Please describe an unusual or unique studio process you currently use or have used in the past.

PB: OK, In Laziness-Flavored Refusal I obstruct a practical urge with what I simply feel like doing. So I forget that I'm trying to do anything and just fumble into what I feel like doing. Then I put away what I felt like doing when it's done. When I pull it out in a year it effortlessly serves a logical end....as if I couldn't have focused my intentions any better than I did by ignoring them. This game is all an afterthought. I never set out to trick myself too much but it comes up all of the time.

RH: How do you know when you're finished with a painting?

When I feel like I'm wasting time I stop. This is usually not a negative feeling. It becomes apparent when an authentic minute has jumped onto something else.

RH: How would you describe the art scene where you live?

PB: Storefront performance spaces, a few good bands, craft movement, filmmakers shooting stuff in the snow, nice galleries, shoddy galleries, shoddy bass playing... The art scene in Milwaukee is small, open and interconnected. There are a number of channels through which one could enter it. If these channels were caves or subterranean passages then the most traveled, best lit and cleanest ones (carpet, muzak, etc) would be those called Film, Video and Performance.

RH: What do you bring to the world of contemporary art that no other artist does?

PB: I don't think there is a world of contemporary art... it isn't that clear to me. And again, I don't think I'm doing anything in a very new way. I think that craftsmanship in the arts is overrated.

RH: Please describe a favorite piece of art in your personal collection.

PB: Well, I borrowed some swimwear from a friend of mine in India. It's just these batiked trunks with a sort of Marlboro cigarette logo [image above]. I put a beautiful shell in the pocket when I was in Puerto Rico and the zipper's been stuck shut ever since. I can feel the shell in there and I kinda remember what color it is but I'll probably never see it again. Finally one day I spilled coffee on the bottom part of the shorts and now I can never wear them again as it would appear that I had completely crapped. For some reason I treasure these shorts but also I wish I could just throw them in the garbage...

Mr. Barrickman's art wares will be on display starting this Saturday at And/Or Gallery along with art by Petra Cortright. Opening reception December 13 from 6-9 PM including a screening of the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special. The show will run through January 17. Image courtesy of Pater Barrickman.