A colorful exchange with Peter Max
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20101118/ENT07/11190312/1032/ENT/A-colorful-exchange-with-Peter-Max
By Lauren Bishop
[email protected]
November 18, 2010
People who came of age in the 1960s know Peter Max's artwork well:
His vibrant, psychedelic paintings and posters colored the decade.
But the 73-year-old artist has found on his tour of galleries and
museums across the country that a new generation is discovering him.
He's stayed current by adding the likes of President Barack Obama and
singer Taylor Swift to his roster of famous subjects, which includes
other presidents, the Statue of Liberty and Mick Jagger.
This weekend, fans young and old will have a chance to meet the
artist. Max's exhibit of original paintings and works on paper,
called Colors of a Better World, will be on display Saturday and
Sunday at the Malton Gallery in Oakley.
The gallery also is taking reservations to meet Max, and anyone who
buys one of his nearly 200 works that will be for sale at the gallery
- ranging from $2,000 for small works to $85,000 for large canvases -
will receive a photo with Max and artwork personally dedicated by him.
Max recently spoke by phone from his New York studio about his
inspirations, his current projects, his passion for astronomy and
animal rights, and why he wanted to arrange for a cow that escaped
from a Camp Washington slaughterhouse in 2002 to live out her days at
an Upstate New York animal sanctuary.
Question: What inspires your work now?
Answer: I love music. I have a full-time DJ that works with me. It
goes all the way from the old be-bop era, boogie-woogie and jazz,
modern jazz, modern rock, fusion rock.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: As I'm listening to music, and as I'm painting, I'm actually
selecting music for an animated film that I want to do. Now the
story's developing. I'm doing it backward. (Normally), first you have
a script, and then you create your characters, and then you write
your story, and then you add dialogue and then music at the end. I
start with music, and then I pick little stories that go with the
music, and then I create the characters. It's much more fun that way.
Q: Do you know what it's going to be about yet?
A: It's going to be done in animation. I'm going to be using motion
capture. It'll be like a musical, a fantastic musical. And I'm going
to have beautiful stories in it. It's about a young boy who's
inspired by the world, by the universe, kind of a little bit how it
was for me when I was a little kid. I got into astronomy when I was
7, 9, 10 years old. I lived in China for my first 10 years; I was
born in Berlin. I'm fanatic about astronomy. I just cannot believe
how big the universe is.
Q: How do you come up with a new way to paint the Statue of Liberty every year?
A: Just by not looking at the other ones.
Q: Is there anything you haven't painted yet that you'd like to tackle?
A: No. Every day when I get to work, I don't even have an idea what
I'm going to paint that day. I just make it up as I go along.
Q: Why was it so important to you to rescue Cinci Freedom, the cow
that escaped from the local slaughterhouse?
A: I just wanted to make a difference in this little cow's life. I
went up (to the Farm Sanctuary) to see her quite a few times ... the
day she died, I heard the story that all night long she was outside,
she didn't go back into the barn. And all the other cows that stayed
with her in the barn, they all stayed out with her all night long.
And then I got the phone call (that she passed away). I still keep it
on my cell phone.
The next generation will be much more animal friendly.
It's a holy thing to do while we're on this earth - look out for
species who can't help themselves.
.
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