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Peter Sparling

Hommage a Fragonard | 60″ x 120″ | Acrylic on canvas | 2021


Artist Statement

A picture of motion is created in the mind’s eye every split second as the eye seeks to comprehend what it sees, what catches its attention. As the pioneer filmmakers knew well, bodies in motion attract our attention, and a dancer’s motion has been my main attraction for 50 years both as dancer/choreographer and video artist. With works such a “Sitting Figure”, I extend that lifelong practice by casting a two-fold gaze onto a dancer improvising against a black void. First, I record the moving figure through my video camera’s lens as it instantaneously converts it into digital and easily transposable and accessible data, which in turn is cast via projector as a video onto the void of blank black canvas or paper. By capturing the kinetic traces of the moving figure’s presence with my pen or brush, I aspire to communicate the immediacy and life force of that presence.  

Artwork/s at the following locations:
Collected Detroit
Detroit Artist Market

Artist Website + Social Media:
www.petersparling.com

MR/QD Is Made Possible BY

Artists stipends made possible by Kresge Arts in Detroit

For details and more info on making a contribution to Mighty Real/Queer Detroit, please contact us at info@mrqd.org

About MR/QD

Mighty Real/Queer Detroit is an art exhibition in June 2022 devoted to 77 years (1945-2022) of Detroit LGBTQ+ art 

The exhibition presents a month-long historical examination of the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community and its longtime allies, featuring established & emerging Detroit artists, as well as artists whose careers were shortened by HIV/AIDS.

Mighty Real/Queer Detroit is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization committed to promoting positive and meaningful images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community through artistic and intellectual means. © 2023. All Rights Reserved.