Peter Cusack – A Painter Among Poets: Exhibition

Some Northwest Corner residents may already be familiar with a magazine called COCOA: The Journal of Cornwall Contemporary Art. What they may not be aware of is that it was started by Peter Cusack, a painter, along with other artists, from Cornwall and elsewhere. Peter’s painting career began when he moved to France for a year at the age of 28 to study with Ted Seth Jacobs, a former Buddhist monk turned realist painter.

The title for this exhibition is a play on the title of a book by Marjorie Perloff about poet and art critic Frank O’Hara, called A Poet among Painters. With his inverted title A Painter Among Poets, Cusack pays homage to the rich literary history Cornwall has been home to, as well as the physical surroundings of words and books of the library.

Viewers will be treated to work that Cusack has produced since the fall of 2021. Mostly quite large paintings, which are, at first glance, abstract, but described by the artist as figurative; paintings that he also characterizes as “thinner and quieter” than previous works. He elaborates: “I was always a figurative painter but now the figure is dissolving. I’m grappling with the figure wanting to be on the canvas and me not wanting it to be on the canvas.” One potential explanation for this shift in his work would be the challenges of the last two years of constant social distancing. The artist concedes that “possibly yes, that plays a role,” but adds: “Irony has been one of the dominant themes in contemporary art over the last few decades. Maybe more. I’m conscious of seeking, or expressing that which is not ironic – the opposite of ironic, something real and sustaining to connect to – even if it’s “the death of a friend,” which has been the subject of two [of my] paintings over the last two years.”

In addition to the context of the paintings, Cusack is passionate about the materiality of the pieces. “The work is really about painting – the sensual experience of the paint on the canvas – I don’t hide the paint in the image. The paint is really the thing we’re here to see.”

Peter Cusack is a publisher, producer, writer, and painter. He has degrees from Syracuse University and Ecole Albert Dufois. His work can be found in the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators, the New York Transit Museum, and the United States Air Force Art Collection. His thoughts on art and drawing appear in An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration from the Private Sketchbooks of Artists, Illustrators and Designers by Danny Gregory, and Drawing Inspiration: Visual Artists At Work by Michael Fleishman. He has taught at St. John’s University, The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and at Five Points Arts in Torrington. He resides in Cornwall and makes his paintings in a storefront studio in Torrington with his dog Clover by his side. More of his work can be seen on his website: http://www.petercusack.com. Look for his upcoming workshop at the Union in West Cornwall. More info on his instagram: @petercusackstudio or contact him directly at peter@petercusack.com

On view until June 4th.