While much of the art world descends upon Los Angeles this week for Frieze, local artist Cleon Peterson heads to Tokyo to present a new solo exhibition entitled Under the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars. On view at the Takashi Murakami-run Kaikai Kiki Gallery, the show is Peterson’s first Japanese solo show in seven years.
The exhibition will showcase 27 new paintings that are created in a monochromatic palette featuring Peterson’s humanoid figures. Emblematic of his past work, the LA-based artist comments on the violence, greed and corruption that has plagued society since the days of antiquity. “We’ve entered a new age of global crisis,” wrote the artist. “Modern dread, hopelessness, and existential anxiety have become common and relegated to the subconscious. The individual walks the streets feeling a sense of alienation and that society, coopted by media technology, politics, and an undercurrent of hate and confusion, is unraveling.”
The prevalence of click-bait and fake news has been an unavoidable topic of discourse for Peterson since he last exhibited in Japan. “Human ethics and our shared knowledge of historical truth seem to be fading away, replaced by the almighty idea that everything is “just business” and that we must take what you can get now,” Peterson said, adding, “It all feels like the start of a new brand of crisis that humanity has never experienced before, giving us the sallow feeling that we are both at the end and the beginning of something bigger than the unceasing human conquest for power.”
Under the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars will be on view at KaiKai Kiki Gallery until March 4.
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