by Jeffrey Wiener
March, 2011
Artist Website:
http://www.peregrinehonig.com/
Jeffrey Wiener: It was quite fun watching the BRAVO series "Work of Art/The Next Great Artist" and seeing you make it so far in the show. While I had to let go of my art-world cynicism in order to enjoy the series, I thought it was a great experiment. Many people who are not necessarily art-lovers became acquainted with you, and the other artists, through this show. But I was very happy to see you speaking plainly about the artistic process to the audience, and I particularly enjoyed your commentary in the cut-aways. I can see that astute clarity about our pop-culture in your work.
Que Bella Cabela
watercolor/human hair/ink
Peregrine Honig: Part of my studio practice involves allowing myself to be documented. My work is about exposure and vulnerability. Auditioning for a reality television show made sense. I gave myself to Bravo knowing the return would be abstracted. The experience was much better and worse than I could have imagined. I regret doing it and I would do it again.
Indian Spring
Watercolor
30" x 22"
JW: You already were a "great" artist before this show, in the respect that you have been quite successful with your career as an artist, and your works are in some very impressive collections. Has the "culture of celebrity" after BRAVO had any affect on the kind of work that you do now or plan to do in the future?
PH: Thank you. I have been lucky to be noticed and discussed in academic fields. There is no pyramid to culture and I am interested in what starts a trend and how people become celebrities. The show has affected my ability to see my process. I can step back faster. I was in the living rooms and dive bars of two million people. People recognize me everywhere I go as someone they are familiar with. More doors have opened, but my interest ratio to the rooms has not changed.
Doily
Watercolor
48" x 34
JW: You've been using the nude, or nakedness, in many of your bodies of artworks. Some of this to quite a pointed and humorous affect. How does the nude factor into the overall message of your works?
PH: The body exposed is timeless and less encumbered. My people are self-reflective and I watch them transition through my work. Awkwardness is hilarious and upsetting because we recognize ourselves when we experience a public mistake. My smaller work often ends up in the guest bathrooms of my private collectors. I love how my work feels in an intimate space.
Curved Screamer
watercolor
30" x 22"
JW: Do you think the nude still holds the power to shock, or has it become a functional image for an artist. Do you feel there are any taboos or social mores left for artists to explore?
PH: The body is a catapult for me. There are always new rules and new rules are interesting. I am curious about the grey areas in etiquette- where one social norm becomes antiquated and is replaced by something stranger.
Distant Terror
watercolor
30" x 22"
JW: Your work makes me think of Egon Schiele's small erotic drawings, capturing a moment of time in his culture with these very open, naked characters. Who were the artists that had an influence on your work?
PH: Egon Schiele, Sally Mann, Hans Belmer and instructional drawings caught my hand early on. I saw a retrospective of Schiele's drawings – 8x10s on yellowing paper. His line alone is epic.
JW: Has Life Drawing been part of your artistic development and education, either formally or informally?
PH: Yes. I went to a public art high school in San Francisco that had figure models and this was wonderful. I work to draw a balance between what I see and what I know. I attend Dr. Sketchy's and hire models. I don't drag the camera into these scenarios.
Apple Olson
Mixed media, watercolor
JW: Are models ever part of your artistic process?
PH: I focus on specific bodies for different bodies of work. I am a serious watcher. I try and remain sensitive to what I haven't noticed.
JW: What's on the horizon for you next as an artist?
PH: Getting off my computer and enjoying a fresh cup of coffee in my studio. :-)
REALITY TV STAR & ARTIST PEREGRINE HONIG TO SPEAK AT ARTEXPO NEW YORK
February 1, 2011 - Christine Schrum - File under Artists, Education, Events, News
Peregrine Honig, Reality TV star from Bravo's "Work of Art: The Next Great Artist"
I’m delighted to announce that socio-political artist and reality TV star Peregrine Honig will be a featured guest during the 2011 Artexpo New York Education Series! On Saturday, March 26, at 4 p.m., Peregrine will give a talk entitled: “Unlimited Edition: Publishing New Media” in Artexpo’s Education Pavilion.
In addition to her talk, Honig will join Artexpo CEO Eric Smith and Linda Jones Enterprises CEO Craig Kausen on Friday, March 25 at 5 p.m. for a panel discussion on “Marketing 101: What They Didn’t Teach You in Art School.”
Honig’s second-place win on Bravo’s first season of “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist” televised her ideas and work into the national pop culture spotlight. Over a decade ago, she made a name for herself when a set of her prints were purchased by the Whitney Museum of American Art, establishing Peregrine as the youngest living artist to be included in the permanent collection. Her public projects, sculptures, imagery, and texts explore themes of cultural vulnerability, trends in sexuality, disease, and social hierarchies. Says the artist about her work:
“I’m interested in the relationship between popular culture, sexual vulnerability, social anxieties, and the ethics of luxury and trends in consumerism. My work asks important questions about who we are and the flexibility of what is acceptable through media, medicine, class, and contemporary court cases. I enjoy re-contextualizing familiar images and objects, using whimsy and surprise to define the grey areas in conflict.”
"Anthophobia Fear of Roses (watercolor w/vintage transfers, 37" x 35")
Peregrine has curated internationally reviewed shows and annual events under the umbrella “Fahrenheit” for fourteen years and owns an eight-year-old lingerie boutique called “Birdies.”
To date, her work is part of the permanent collections of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and The Chicago Art Institute among others. She has had solo exhibits in Santa Fe, Kansas City, and Chicago, and has shown in group exhibitions in New York and across the globe. Peregrine is also a recipient of the Art Omi International Artists’ Residency and the Charlotte Street Fund. She recently released Widow, a one-time limited edition faux fashion magazine in collaboration with Landfall Press, which explores the relationship between fashion and art.
To learn more about Peregrine, visit her website at http://www.peregrinehonig.com/
Welcome aboard, Peregrine! Can’t wait to catch your lecture on March 25.
