Peter Illig's works are analogies for human emotions and experiences - American psychological landscapes - reflecting how we think of several things at once. He layers images borrowed from film, TV and cyberspace and his own experience like a coded language of symbols to express his ideas and feelings.
Illig is a realist, and a surrealist at the same time. "Once upon a time, the task of the artist was to portray and interpret the 'real world,'" says Illig. "Now it is to discern if there is a reality behind the appearance of things. Reality is created by observation. This search through the 'stuff' of the world, matter and flesh, is inherently erotic. And so is the act of drawing and painting. By immersing ourselves in the physical, material world, we can see the path to the higher realm, and find the spiritual meanings behind the physical objects."
These meanings and objects intersect and overlap - in life, and in Illig's art. Where does one object end and another begin? Where does one idea end and another begin to form? Can theory become visual?
And from his Plus+Gallery show:
Total immersion.
In dream symbolism, water is a metaphor for the depths of human emotions; travels across oceans through water represents an emotional journey. Likewise, shipwreck and immersion are metaphors for emotional turmoil and crisis. My mind sifts through a pastiche of images, creating a two-way dialog between past and present, order and chaos, art and everyday life.
Like changing channels on a TV, or surfing the web, images move like a sliding puzzle, a gridwork of cultural meanings -- elusive, oblique references, innuendo, erotic symbolism, implications, metaphors, unclear boundaries, non sequiturs, incongruities, romantic ideas.
Peter Illig
PETER J. ILLIG
2055 Race St.
Denver, Colorado USA 80205
Phone: 303-913-0973
e-mail: BabylonArt@aol.com
Education:
Master of Humanities 1996, University of Colorado, Denver.
Bachelor of Science, Art Education, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY.
GALLERY EXHIBITIONS AND AWARDS
Selected Solo Shows:
2010
Redux: The Logic of Dreams, Hinterland Gallery, Denver, Colorado
2008
Full Fathom Five Plus+Gallery , Denver, Colorado
2007
Porn Star Passion Play Pirate - Contemporary Art, Denver
Mysteries of Babylon Spark Gallery, Denver
2006
Popular Mechanics Pirate - Contemporary Art, Denver
DIALOG: 21, Spark Gallery, Denver.
2005
The Logic of Dreams Pirate - Contemporary Art Denver
First Person Future Tense Two artist show, Plus+Gallery, Denver
2004
Life on Earth Pirate - Contemporary Art, Denver
2003
Proximity Pirate, Denver
2001
The End of History Pirate, Denver
2000
The Secret Life of Men Pirate, Denver
American Inverse, Two-artist show. Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder, CO
1997
Man Woman Image Text, CORE New Art Space, Denver
Conflicting Views, Univ. of Colorado, Denver, campus art gallery.
Selected Group Shows:
2011
displaced, experimental show, Ice Cube Gallery, Denver (collaboration with Rebecca Vaughan)
14 Collaborations, Art Students League Invitational show, Denver, CO
Confluence, Invitational show, Emmanual Gallery, Denver, CO
2010
Excellencies, Plus+Gallery, Denver, Colorado
2009
‘Everybody Loves a Train Wreck’, Art Students League Invitational, Denver, CO
2008
Denver Modernism Show, Featured artist.
2007
Surprise Plus+Gallery, Denver, Colorado
2005
Figure Painting Invitational, Emmanuel Gallery, Auraria Campus, Denver
CAEA Art Exhibition, Philip J Steele Gallery, Denver (Best in Show Award)
2004
Group Show 2 Biennial, Studio Aiello Gallery, Denver
Pirate Members’ Show, Pirate - Contemporary Art, Denver
2003
Gallery Sovereign Show, Boulder, Colorado
Cooperative Gallery Retrospective, Art Students League, Denver, Colorado
2002
Studio Aiello Inaugural Juried Show, Studio Aiello, Denver
Rocky Mountain Biennial, Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art, Ft. Collins, CO
All Colorado Art Show, Curtis Center for the Arts, Greenwood Village (Juror’s Award)
The Man Show, CORE New Art Space, Denver
Side by Side, Fresh Art Gallery, Denver
2001
The Figure in American Art, 1950-2000, Center for Visual Arts, Denver
Melange: Pirate Artists' Show, Viridian Gallery, New York, NY
The Dream Mill, Lakewood Cultural Arts Center, Lakewood, Colorado
Opening Show, Sandra Phillips Fine Arts, Basalt, Colorado
All Colorado Art Show, Curtis Center for the Arts, Greenwood Village, Colorado
2000
Real to Surreal, Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, Colorado
Colorado 2000, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs
(Award of Merit)
20th Anniversary Members Show, Pirate - Contemporary Art, Denver
1999
Chairs! Chairs! Chairs! Exhibition. Center for Visual Arts, Denver
The Timeless Body, On-line Exhibition at PaintingsDirect.com, New York, NY
CORE Supporting Members' Show, CORE New Art Space, Denver
Colorado Open Exhibition, Foothills Art Center, Golden, Colorado
Woman: Face/Place, Women's Art Center and Gallery, Denver
ILK Co-op Gallery, National Juried Show, Denver
Metropolitan State College Art Faculty Exhibitions, Center for Visual Arts,
and Emmanuel Gallery, Denver
All Colorado Art Show, Curtis Center for the Arts, Greenwood Village, Colorado
PUBLICATIONS
Kimberly Graham, Colorado Modern magazine: Peter Illig, ‘Portraitist of Society’s Soul’, February 2004.
Sonya Ellingboe, Littleton Independent: Peter Illig, ‘Artist Juggling Many Canvases’, August 21, 1997.
Michael Paglia, Westword: Artbeat, June 16, 2005, Dec. 2005.
Reviews Life on Earth, July 29, 2004
Sex in the City, August 15, 2002.
Artbeat, August 10, 2000. Sit On It, June 16, 1999.
Artistic Democracy, September 3, 1998.
Mary Chandler, Rocky Mountain News: Critics' Choice (reviews): July 15, 2005, July 31, 2004, August 1, 2002, August 18, 2001, August 13, 2000.
Jeff Bradley, Denver Post: Variety in Media (review), August 27, 1999.
J. Gluckstern, Boulder Camera: "Real to Surreal examines fringes of the possible╙ (review), January 2, 2000.
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Art Instructor,
Heritage High School, Littleton, Colorado (1981-2001).
Theatre Tech asst. director.
Chaparral High School, Parker, Colorado (2001-2002).
Rangeview High School, Aurora, Colorado, Dept. Chair (2002-2006).
Adjunct Art Professor, Drawing, Metropolitan State College, Denver (1999-2000).
Professor of Painting, Rocky Mountain College of Art+Design, Denver (2009-2010).
Commission – Aurora Art in Public Places, Aurora Fire Department Painting, (April 2011)
(Deana Miller, director)
AFFILIATIONS
Denver Art Museum 1996 - present
Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver (Member) 2000 - 2010
Pirate - Contemporary Art (Member, curator) 1999 - 2008
Core New Art Space (Supporting Member) 1997 - 1999
Colorado Art Education Association 1992-1997, 2003-2006
(Board Representative)
Spark Gallery cooperative, Denver 2004-2007
Plus+Gallery, Denver, Colorado (2005 to present)
Artist’s website - www.peterillig.com