Peter Allen Hoffmann
The Origin of the World, 2008
These paintings are the result of my own dialogue with aspects of the art historical canon. The choice of which artists/paintings/sculptures to work from, or rather with, is based on the issues and problems they present and the art historical precedents they represent. Each painting contains its own specific history. And yet, these paintings also function as a collection, where the relationships between them create another forum for the continuation of a conversation.
Specifically, “The Origin of the World” painting functions as a center point for the show, which the other paintings refer and respond to. The original painting, which has it own deep and complicated history, relates the creation of life with the creation of art. In this show, the originality of the image is subjugated to the context in which it is placed.
