Peter Combe creates his images exclusively through the application of an array of coloured disks that are punched from hardware-store paint swatches. He engages the sculptural possibilities of these commercially produced paint-samples by placing them into thin slits that he has made in a supporting back panel so that the colours he selects appear at 45 degree angles and the reverse side of each colour-swatch, where paint brands and finishes are specified, is made a visible and integral part of Combe's image.

 

As a result, viewers of his work are not only made aware of the commercial sources of his materials but also become conscious of their own position and preferences opposite his pieces as they change vantage points; whether it's looking at his work as formal abstractions and portraiture or shifting to a perspective that offers glimpses of copy-written colour descriptions. In each case, the raised sample-swatches allow light to refract through all the 'pre-painted' tones of the mechanically-reproduced colour spectrum.

 

Lives in San Francisco, CA

 

 

COLLECTIONS:

 

Laurence Hallier, Los Angeles, CEO and Founder Show MediaGroup

David Kensington, San Francisco, Principal, David Kensington & Associates

Yves Navarre (Estate), Paris (France), Author

David Nazarian, Los Angeles, CEO Nimes Capital & Angella Nazarian - Author

Sam Nazarian, Las Vegas, Founder and CEO, SBE Entertainment

Johann Schleier-Smith, San Francisco, Co-founder & CTO, Tagged.com

Ryan Seacrest, Los Angeles, Entertainer

Mark Smucker, Ohio, J.M. Smucker Co.

Chris Viehbacher, Boston, CEO Sanofi

 

 

ADDENDUM:

 

The New Museum, New York, NY in 2010, Peter Combe Ode to NYC <3 Design Collaboration, 2011

 

 

SELECTED SOLO/GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

 

2015   KONFETTIKUNST, Back Gallery Project, Vancouver, Canada

2015   FORMS & FACES, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami, FL

2015   POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York, NY

2015   LA/SF, Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2014   PLAY, Galerie C.O.A., Montréal, QC, Canada.

2014   ART PERSPECTIVES, Robert Fontaine Gallery, Miami, FL.

2014   COMPLIMENTARY COLOR, Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.

2014   PETER COMBE & EDWARD LENTSCH, Lanoue Gallery, Boston, MA.

2014   PETER COMBE”, YOUR NAME IN LIGHTS BY JOHN BALDESSARI, Illuminated

            Billboard, Monnaie de Paris, Paris, France.

2014   POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York, NY.

2013   Drugstore Beetle (Sitodrepa Paniceum) II, California State University, Special Collections

            Library, Long Beach, CA.

2012   POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, Sikkema Jenkins & Co Gallery, New York, NY.

2011   POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, Cheim & Read Gallery, New York, NY.

2011   “PETER COMBE”, YOUR NAME IN LIGHTS BY JOHN BALDESSARI, Illuminated

            Billboard, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

2011   David Horvitz Satellite Exhibition, Les Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France.

2011   “THIS IS NOT A LOVE SONG”, DIGITAL NATIVES, Electronic Billboard Burrard Street

            Bridge, City of Vancouver Public Art Program, Vancouver, Canada.

2010/11, PETER COMBE; PUNCHED & SHREDDED, Smith Andersen North, San Anselmo, CA.

2010   CALIFORNIA OPEN, TAG, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA., Curator: Karen Moss,

            Director of Exhibitions, Orange County Museum of Art.

2010   TWITTER/ART+SOCIAL MEDIA, Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver, Canada. Curators: Dr.

            Maria Lantin, Director of the Intersections Digital Studios Research Centre at the Emily Carr

            University of Art + Design. Hank Bull, Exectutive Director at Centre A., Vancouver International

            Centre for Contemporary Asian Art.

2009   3rd COAST NATIONAL, Curated by Fairfax Dorn, Co-founder & Executive Director

            Ballroom Marfa, Marfa TX., KSpace Contemporary, Corpus Christi, TX

2009   4th NATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION, Curated by Janet Bishop, Curator of Painting &

            Sculpture at SFMoMA., Axis Gallery, Sacremento, CA.

2009   CALIFORNIA OPEN, Curated by Michael Zakian, Director of Frederick R. Weisman

            Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, Malibu, TAG Gallery, Santa Monica, CA.

2009   24th TALLAHASSE INTERNATIONAL, Curated By Faculty, Museum of Fine Art, Florida

            State University, FL.

2006   DRAPART, Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona, Barcleona, Spain.

2005   ART+5, One Point Six Gallery, Vancouver, Canada.

2005   KILLER, One Point Six Gallery, Vancouver, Canada.

 

 

ART FAIRS:

 

2015   SEATTLE ART FAIR, Back Gallery Project

2015   ART MIAMI NEW YORK, Robert Fontaine Gallery

2015   ART WYNWOOD, Robert Fontaine Gallery

2015   ART PALM BEACH, Robert Fontaine Gallery

2014   CONTEXT ART MIAMI, Robert Fontaine Gallery

2014   ART MARKET SAN FRANCISCO, SBFArts

2014   PHOTO L.A.., THE 22rd ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL LOS ANGELES PHOTOGRAPHIC

            ART EXPOSITION, Smith Andersen North Gallery

2013   PHOTO L.A.., THE 22rd ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL LOS ANGELES PHOTOGRAPHIC

            ART EXPOSITION, Smith Andersen North Gallery

2012   PHOTO L.A.., THE 21st ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL LOS ANGELES PHOTOGRAPHIC

            ART EXPOSITION, Smith Andersen North Gallery

2011   PHOTO L.A.., THE 20th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL LOS ANGELES PHOTOGRAPHIC

            ART EXPOSITION, Smith Andersen North Gallery

 

 

ARTIST TALKS :

 

April, 2015, Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

 

 

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:

 

- 7 Sünden der modernen Gesellschaft, ZEIT WISSEN MAGAZIN, February, 2015

- Studio Visit Magazine, Volume Twenty-Eight, 2015

- Caroline Kurze, Konfettikunst von Peter Combe, Ignant, October 21, 2014

- Alissa Darsa, Artnet News, Must See Art Guide: Boston, October 9, 2014

- K Homer, Amazing Pixelated Portraits Made Out of Carefully Arranged Paint Swatches, My

Modern Met, October 5, 2014

- Juxtapoz, Artworks Made From Paint Swatches, Juxtapoz, September 30, 2014

- Kiri Spirou, When Colour Occupies Space: Paint Chip Art by Peter Combe, Yatzer, September

27, 2014

- Jasmine Wilson, Realistic Portraits Made From Paint Chips, Strictlypaper, February 5, 2014

- Andy Romanoff, Photo l.a. : Changing nature of photography, L’Oeil de la Photographie,

January 20, 2014

- Studio Visit Magazine, 'Peter Combe', Winter, 2013

- Helander, Michael. “Peter Combe”, Artizen (Sweden), December, 2011

- Douglas, Chloé. “Paint Swatches & Chips: The Art of Peter Combe”, Plenty Of Colour,

plentyofcolour.com, February 16, 2011

- “ADBUSTERS Whole Brain Catalog”, Iran’s Ahmadinejad Prepares for Avatar Premier,

Summer, 2010

- Vartanian, Hrag. “A Really Lovely Animated Gif Story At A Tale Of A Few Cities”, Hyper Allergic

Labs, New York, NY., hyperallergic.com, April 30, 2010

- Varty, Alexander. “Art tweets in blips & bleeps in Twitter/Art+Social Media”, The Georgia

Straight, April 15, 2010

- Johnson, Paddy. “Rush Limbaugh’s Penthouse For Sale - What About The Art”, Art Fag City,

artfagcity.com, Mar 4, 2010

- Combe, Peter. “Marc‐Antoine Léval, The Immaterial Art Emperor”, Last Fountain, Lot 10

Galerie, Brussels, Belgium, April, 2010 (catalog)

-“24th Tallahassee International”, Moiré (red) & Pink Interference, Aug 2009 (catalog)

-“California Open”, 09+h16473 Head, Aug 2009 (catalog)

-“4th National Juried Exhibition”, Gene Poll (II), Aug 2009 (catalog)

-“Drap-Art ’06”, UHF Sans Green, Dec 2006 (catalog)

-Mushet, Mark. “Centrefold”, Vancouver Review, Fall 2006

-Hopkins, Michelle. “The Eye of The Beholder”, State of The Art, Winter 2005/06