3S Artspace is pleased to announce its next exhibition, Each Has Their Grief, running from Aug. 16 to Oct. 13. An opening reception and opportunity to meet the artist will be held Friday, Aug.16, from 5 to 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Five years after the death of his daughter from an accidental overdose, Peter Bruun turned to his studio for solace. Going headlong into his grief, for three years he excavated his pain by making art. With time came catharsis and healing; light began to break through, and sorrow’s blues began to give way to polychromatic bursts of joy.
Each Has Their Grief features dozens of Bruun’s paintings and drawings, figurative abstractions grounded in narrative taking us through his story of loss and love, sorrow and serenity, and landing us at grace.
The exhibition is organized into seven series: Memoir, Bibliography, Big Crying, Lamentation, Joy, Together, and Communion. As explained by Peter Bruun, “The exhibition itself presents a narrative arc. It starts with a series I call memoir drawings, taking us from the moment I received the phone call letting me know Elisif had died and then continuing through the various stages of grief that followed. The show ends with Communion, a multi-panel piece composed of drawings by both me and my daughter reflecting on the relationship I have with her now, 10 years after her death.”
When looking at Bruun’s work, the images strike with an ethereal fluidity. “My work is constantly in revision. I’m always using my eraser in charcoal and pastel drawings; I use a lot of white gouache to cover up marks in gouache and watercolor drawings; I use sandpaper to bring the imagery down in my mostly-oil paintings on panels. The finished product has plenty of signs of process and past iterations — patinas from working and reworking.”
This patina adds an ephemeral layer to the work, as if it is in motion. Words, color, lines, and shape come together in a piece as if one was watching the mind pulse with thought and feeling, trying to process. Peter Bruun is an artist, curator, and community activist currently based in Maine. Bruun’s method of bringing studio, curatorial, and advocacy aspects into his practice was honed in Baltimore, MD, his home for many years, and is evident in such projects as Anonymous Requiem (2002), Music, Art & Beautiful Things (2005), Autumn Leaves (2014), and Beyond Beautiful: One Thousand Love Letters (2019).
Bruun founded the New Day Campaign in early 2014 (following the death of his daughter Elisif from an opioid overdose), an initiative dedicated to using arts programming and public engagement to challenge stigma associated with mental illness and substance use, making the world a more healing place.
He has pursued his practice nationally and internationally, serving as a cultural envoy in Palestine, a visiting artist in Amman, Jordan, and a resident artist at Yellow Barn Music Festival in Putney, Vermont, among other undertakings. Named Best Curator by multiple Baltimore publications, he is the recipient of numerous grants and other awards for his work.
“Without art, how would we process our lives? Whether it’s music, poetry, or painting, the act of creating has the power to heal,” said Beth Falconer, Executive Director of 3S Artspace on the exhibition. In addition to the exhibition, there will be a number of community events held at 3S Artspace that are meant to compliment the exhibition and intersect with the conversation around mental health, addiction, grief, loss, and acceptance.
“In our early stages of working with artist Peter Bruun to prepare for this exhibit, he expressed that he and 3S “share a programming mind.” We see many avenues for identifying stakeholders and bringing them to the table to collaborate with us. By presenting film, dance, music, conversation, and meditation, we’ll provide many entry points to experience this exhibition in the coming months,” said Beth Falconer.
As stated by Peter Bruun, “the reason I exhibit is less to advance my own story and more to allow others to experience it so they might discover points of resonance with their own. It’s to invite visitors permission to feel their feelings through connecting with my art. Pain is the common denominator we all share at one time or another. Let’s come together in a place where we name it, own it, honor it, and ultimately transcend it through grace and beauty.”
For more information about the exhibition and related events, visit http://www.3sarts.org.
