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Running ‘Platinum Cheese’ has given me a platform to share some of the most innovative voices thriving within today's New Contemporary Art scene. This latest exhibition represents a culmination of my experiences in the art world, and expands upon the dialogue between artist and audience by providing an arena where fans and creatives alike engage under one roof. Each artist was chosen based on my admiration for his or her unique aesthetic as well as his or her ability to captivate the viewer time and time again. When these singular voices are put next to one another, the perspectives "blend"to create a sense of continuity from one work to the next. -Stephanie Chefas

Peter Gronquist’s work has always eschewed easy interpretation–the artist is reticent to pick any one sentiment or statement that might easily summarize his art practice. He takes great pains to produce the Neo Baroque high-gloss and gold-gilded finishes found in his signature animal taxidermy sculptures, where he appropriates ultra-masculine imagery creating a juxtaposition of the innocent and the aggressor. Up to 30 hours may go into sanding the finish on an assault weapon antler, and Gronquist employs master gold platers to complete the almost alchemical transformation of adhering pure gold accents, perfecting a process of binding gold and silver to non-metal surfaces.

These objects act as a parody of the role that luxury goods play in what Gronquist views as “hyper American” culture. Designer labels, outrageous bling, and rampant conspicuous consumption point to the consumerism that dominated pre-recession American culture, and the transgression for which we are now atoning amidst the global economic collapse. His use of guns also relates to this “hyper Americanism” and works as a double edge; part empowering, part destructive, it’s a timely criticism of gun culture, which is presented as either wholesome and sporting, or malicious and predatory. Gronquist’s exposure of these characteristics of American culture, the simultaneous rejection and embodiment of the consumerism and apathy we have inherited as the American dream, is possibly the most concise possible interpretation for his work.

About Peter Gronquist:

Born 1979 in the USA, Peter lives and works in Portland, OR after residing in Oakland, CA.. He attended the School of Visual Art New York and received a BA in painting from San Francisco Art Institute in 2001. He has shown at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles, Shooting Gallery in San Francisco, 1 AM Gallery in San Francisco, The Pittsfield Museum of Art, Scope New York and Miami, and is collected internationally. Peter was recently named one of the top 15 new artists to collect by Business Insider.