Girl with Locks of Gold
Acrylic and Gold Leaf on Canvas
24″ x 36″
61cm x 91.5cm
2008

Woman with Candy Hair
Acrylic and Gold Leaf on Canvas
24″ x 30″
61cm x 76cm
2008

Self Portrait in Striped Suit
Acrylic and Gold Leaf on Canvas
24″ x 30″
61cm x 76cm
2008

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Woman in Bright Pink
Acrylic, Gouache Marker and Gold Leaf on Canvas
69″ x 60″
177.5cm x 152cm
2008

Sold – Private Collection – Chicago

A Portrait of Robert Schultz
Acrylic on Canvas
65″ x 63″
165cm x 160cm
2008

OPENING SATURDAY MARCH 28TH!

Pete Nawara in the Picturing Mary Group Exhibition March 22 to May 24, 2008

Annunciation
Mixed Media on Canvas – 2004

PICTURING MARY: CONTEMPORARY IMAGES OF THE MADONNA

The Orleans Street Gallery presents Picturing Mary: Contemporary Images of the Madonna from March 22 to May 24, 2008. This group exhibition will feature fresh interpretations of the Virgin Mary, stretching traditional representations and crossing cultural boundaries. Through painting, photography and mixed media, Chicago-area artists reflect upon and rephrase the Marian image. Selections span the allegorical and the literal, the maternal and the divine. Curated by Ruth Nelson.

Artists include: Diana Arrieta, Chantal Baros, Dorisa Camps, Margaret Carsello, Alicia Chester, Brian Dortmund, Makeba Kedem-DuBose, Elisabeth Dzuricsko, Bro. Mark Elder CM, Valerie Fuqua, Felipe Garcia, LeeAnn Gause, Diane Green, Violet Jaffe, Aphrodite Navab and Richard Jochum, Pete Nawara, Kristine O’Reilly, Enrique Ortiz, Elizabeth Parker, Rosie Presti, Cheryl Quick, Ben Speckmann, and Rachel Weaver Rivera.

The Picturing Mary Opening Reception will be held on Saturday, March 29, 2008 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Orleans Street Gallery is located in the Bourbon Street section of Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 East Main Street, St. Charles, IL 60174. Gallery hours are Thursday 12-7 p.m., Friday and Saturday 12-8 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m . – 4 p.m. For more information contact Gallery Director Anni Holm at art@orleansStreetGallery.com or 630.524.5048

Here’s a write up about the show in the Daily Herald.

Uptown Promo HD
Uploaded by lukesnellin

 

 

 

Check it out people. All of these drawings are on sale until April 15th. A measly $150 per piece. THAT’S RIGHT! Only $150. This does NOT include shipping or framing. Buy 2 for $250 and save yourself some doughnuts. I know, I know… it’s crazy. Click on an image for a closer view and to make comments on the piece. Email me if you’re interested in buying one.

Hey all you Chicagoan tricksters. Check out my latest studio work on display over at the beautiful Zella Brown. It’s for sale, so get down there and buy it before someone else scoops it up. Why not get that beautiful sofa or a lovely accent pillow as well?

Check out this time lapse video from the Sunday party that blew all of our tube socks into the rafters.

Uptownboogiedown Launch Time Lapse
Uploaded by petenawara

The uptownboogiedown launch party went off like a firecracker (fireworks glasses included) with lots of fun and bounce and pretty ladies everywhere. What a good time. These two ultra-pop laser bright portraits of K were banged out right there in the club amidst the shaking booties and the Boogie Blasters™. They are painted on two 30×40 in Canvases. Look at them.

Ladies, Gentlemen and the rest of you. I will be off to London this March to help Poussez with the launch of their all new monthly Sunday madness at Nottinghill Arts Club. That’s right! I’ll be performing a live painting at this sure to be SLAMMBASTIC filled with laserbolts of happiness and swishy good times. I’m expecting Poussez will be feeding me full of delicious rum drinks and pushing the groove that gets me creative juices flowing. It’ll be the sexiest night yet over at NHAC so be sure to check this one out if you’re going to be in the London area. If you’re not.. it might be the right time for a visit. No joke. I’ll keep you updated on this.

Artist Profile: Pete Nawara
By Tom Jeffreys

© Pete Nawara

American artist Pete Nawara is fascinated by one thing: beauty. It’s possible that he finds other stuff interesting too, but basically, for him, beauty is the thing. Beauty, of course, can mean a number of different things: a pretty face, a hot body, a great painting… But beauty also always has to do with concepts of beauty. Ok, so that sounds obvious, but beauty is not just intrinsic: concepts of beauty vary (often quite dramatically) according to society, culture, historical period etc. You wouldn’t see Titian’s plump white ladies on the front cover of Vogue, for example.

Nawara’s is quite a straightforward concept. He has his subjects pose in front of a camera as if it were a mirror. They ‘check themselves out’: they pout, frown, style their hair, smooth their wrinkles, adjust their ties… Nawara then takes these images, fiddles with them on a computer for a bit, projects the finished composition onto a canvas, and colours it with thinned acrylic paint, gouache markers, and gold leaf.
This process is interesting in that the finished images portray individuals engaging with themselves, worrying about the parts they don’t like or admiring the parts they do. Nawara explores the way in which people see themselves, and how this can never be direct or objective. The way in which he distorts the images and lends them a kind of computerized pop-art aesthetic echoes the way in which identity is always (at least, in part) an effect of the consumption of media.

One major thing that Nawara can be admired for is that he seeks quite resolutely to leave excessive theorising to others. Not for him the nonsensical po-mo claptrap spouted by those whose work cannot stand alone without lengthy paragraphs of sub-Deleuzean explanatory flim-flam. Nawara rejects what he describes as “endless babbling” in favour of this simple statement: “I strive to make objects that are aesthetically pleasing”.

So, on these terms, does he succeed? Well, there’s quite a heavy pop-art vibe. If you hate Warhol, then you might not like this stuff. But there’s more too: Nawara’s work is not simply slick or advert-flat. Man in a Houndstooth Suit, for example, shows both boldly clashing patterns and a sensitivity in the depiction of differing facial expressions. And the use of gold leaf in works such as St. Peter imbues the subject with an almost kitsch quasi-Catholic beauty. Direct but also quite subtle, intelligent but mercifully not over-theorized, Nawara’s paintings are definitely worthy of greater attention.

To see Pete in action, head on down to uptownboogiedown on 9th March.

[From http://www.spoonfed.co.uk/articles/Tom/123 ]

Man in a Houndstooth Suit
[A Portrait of Nolan Farrell]
Acrylic on Canvas
64 x 52 Inches (162 x 132 cm)

Help me win the Saatchi Showdown competition! Cast your vote here!!!

Buy A Print of This Artwork

Here is the start of a painting of the acclaimed headhunter Nolan Farrell in his houndstooth suit. I have been documenting this portrait very closely and will update you with the records and details in their entirety upon completion of this work. This particular photograph is of extremely poor quality and for this I apologize. The lighting conditions were not ideal during the time of shooting and my Nikon D50 is presently being used for another project in which it cannot be moved from its current location and therefore I was forced to use my Nikon Coolpix S50. While this is a wonderful camera capable of many things, it is not the best in low light conditions. To be honest I could not be bothered to fiddle with its clumsy settings in order to get the shot right. Obviously I will take more care when shooting the finished work.

For Pete’s Sake – Pete Nawara Portraits

The closest thing to art in your apartment is the installation of assorted deodorants in your bathroom. (You call it “Still Life with Wetness Protection.”)

Time to redecorate.

Start with a portrait from artist Pete Nawara.

Read More.

My book The Mirror Conspiracy is now available at Blurb. Please take a look and spread the word.

In other news, I’m considering offering giclée prints of some selected paintings. These prints would be available on high quality paper and on archival canvas at affordable prices. If this is something you would be interested in, please let me know by leaving a comment on this post. Also, let me know which pieces you would most likely want to see available.

Woman with a Pearl Necklace
70 x 52 inches
2007
Private collection Switzerland

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Now I’m just fiddling … Should be working more on definition, but have burnt myself out on other projects. I will finish this up shortly. Fear not.

At this point I’ve decided to drop in a light grey background to really pop out the whites in the painting. This will help me decipher where I need to push things back and where I need to let things stay white so that they pop.

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Nolan Farrell
27.5 x 19.5 inches
Mixed Media on Paper
2007

So, the time has come to finish up this little bébé. This is when the fingers start to REALLY hurt. (more…)

Bébé Zillay
Plaster and Wire
0 – 3 Months
2007
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Anna Simonovic and I have finally started making bébés together. Here is our first bébé in process. He’s currently drying and consists of 20lbs of powedered plaster. We haven’t named him yet and are taking suggestions. Stay tuned for final pictures.

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