Peter Anton Sculpture May 2 - June 19, 2009 * Show Extended * Through July 31st Allan Stone Gallery 113 East 90th Street New York, NY 10128 1.212.987.4997 www.allanstonegallery.com BOXED DOUGHNUTS 27 x 36 x 5.5 inches, mixed media 2009

The Allan Stone Gallery is pleased to present the gallery's first solo exhibition of sculptures by Peter Anton. The exhibition will be on view at the gallery from May 2 – June 19, 2009, and will include six larger sculptures of desserts.

Anton says, “I have an innate reverence for the things we eat.” He displays his veneration through giant sculptures of powdered jelly donuts, melting chocolate ice-milk bars, and boxes of enormous, mouthwatering, multicolored chocolates, each in its own tissue cup, each a sweet seduction. The artist says, “The sensual nature of the works stimulates basic human needs and desires that generate cravings and passion.”

Anton assembles the larger confections by starting with a wirecloth-covered wood base, over which he applies plaster. This he carves, sculpts and sands. He then applies resin and acrylic materials, which he paints. The smaller works are made entirely of resin, which he then carves, sculpts, sands and paints. He makes boxes for the works out of powder coated metal.

Candy was initially considered frivolous, and not a topic for serious art. The bright colors present in sweets today (and art work about them) first became possible with the artificial dyes created and used in late 19th Century factory production. The mid-20th Century work of Wayne Thiebaud, which matured stylistically just prior to the Pop Movement, re-invigorated public interest in still-life painting and depictions of candy and desserts. Through the charmingly messy and less realistic work of Claes Oldenberg, an early practitioner of giantism, oversized confections and sweets reentered the art world as a proper subject. Anton's refined, glossy, and sometimes bitten treats are the new generation of sumptuous shiny-surfaced seduction, a reflection of our polished sexualized consuming times.

Peter Anton first showed with the Allan Stone Gallery in 1992. Peter Anton's work has been featured in solo exhibitions in the United States and abroad, including Galerie Terminus in Munich; the Henri Gallery in Washington, D.C.; Galerie Adler Bertin-Toublanc in Miami; and the Hammer Galleries, Russeck Gallery, and the Bruce R. Lewin Gallery in New York City.  He has participated in group exhibitions in museums and galleries including the Austin Museum of Art in Texas; the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, New York; the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut; the Castellani Art Museum in Niagara, New York; the Elaine Baker Gallery in Boca Raton, Florida; and the COPIA Museum in Napa Valley, California.  In addition, he was represented by Galerie Terminus at the Korean International Art Fair, Art Cologne, the Palm Beach Fine Art & Antique Fair, the Venice International Art Fair, and the Salzburg World Fine Art Fair.  He was also represented at the Hong Kong Art Fair by Galerie Levy, the Toronto International Art Fair and Art Bodensee by the Davis-Klemm Gallery, and the Allan Stone Gallery at Art Basel Miami Beach. Anton's work is in numerous private, public, and corporate collections including those of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, the Oppenheim Bank, Breitling Watches, Raymond James Financial, Perfetti Van Melle, Sir Howard Stringer, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, the Jordanian Royal Family, and Lord Norman Foster. Anton studied filmmaking at the University of Bridgeport.