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Plucked Chicken Press:
The Last Works
In 1991 Will Petersen was
invited by the Toronto Symphony to exhibit his painting Cloudswept Solo
during the world premiere of The Darkly Splendid Earth: The Lonely Traveller,
a rhapsody by the composer Murray Schafer. Petersen created the painting
while violinist Jacques Israelievitch performed in his studio.
Following the Cloudswept
Solo painting, Petersen produced a series of lithographs on the motif of
the "lonely traveler" or "wanderer." The image of the wanderer was based
on the artist's previous version of this figure, influenced by the Japanese
Noh drama.
The lone man or the wanderer
appeared in Petersen's earlier works as a small figure sitting in front
of the stage, passively observing the Noh drama. As in Petersen's lithograph
From There to Here of 1985 , the wanderer is dressed in Buddhist monk's
garb; his hair is blowing in the wind. This is actually a self-portrait
of Petersen observing the Noh drama, later becoming a person searching
for spiritual salvation.
In Petersen's works created
between 1991 and 1994, the wanderer gradually assumes the main role. In
Darkly Splendid of 1993 , a stormy sky and dark ground provide contrast
for a spiritual yellow light that illuminates the wanderer who is dressed
in a purple Japanese kimono. The wanderer looks backward, observing his
life in retrospect.
In Petersen's final work
in 1994, The Last One , the wanderer - looking forward - dominates the
entire composition. The yellow light turns darker. Will Petersen - the
observer, the traveler, the wanderer - anticipates a transformation. Petersen
died April 1, 1994. |
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| Cloudswept Solo (detail),
Lithograph, 1983 |
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Yuki
The title of a Noh.
A loan man, unattached to
the world, wanders, as night
comes on, in the midst of
sudden snow swirl, a young woman,
all in white appears. She
dances. She vanishes.
The name for Snow is Yuki.
Ko is the customary
suffix, female.
W. Petersen, Kyoto, 1962 |
Listening to Blues Before
Sundown. Head Full. Body exhausted. But wanting to jot down odd notes,
before bed. Jacques here in the afternoon, propping the score in the loaner
violin case, playing. When people ask me to explain composing a print,
I say, ItÕs like
music: making marks. Marks are colors, are sounds, separately considered,
conceived as one.
W. Petersen, April 20,
1991 |
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