photo: courtesy of the artist, Lorraine Peltz.
Looking at Lorraine Peltz's most recent exhibit, "Cosmic Hostess" at the
Hyde Park Art Center, feels like the visual equivalent of sipping a martini at a cocktail party: It's a bit retro, it's definitely glamorous, and you will learn something if you pay attention to the good conversation.
For years the Chicago painter has combined abstract painting and an aesthetic inspired by '70s-style advertising, using stencils, patterning, graphic elements and iconic symbols that relate to female fantasies, domestic histories and fashion. Peltz's recent work further probes the complicated position of the contemporary woman by balancing the eye candy allure of her decorative painting style with loaded symbols—white go-go boots, red lips, thought balloons, cupcakes and a pair of pears—to provoke questions about the female identity in our personal and popular cultures.
Recently, I visited the artist in her Chicago home just north of Lincoln Square. Living up to her persona as the "cosmic hostess" Peltz greeted me with hot tea and a cheese-and-crackers platter before we sat down for a girl-to-girl chit-chat.
What does "cosmic hostess" mean?
The title of the show comes specifically from [my] painting of the same name…It was this cosmic brew of paint surrounding these two Hostess cupcakes. I worked from that painting to create a group of works [for this show] that depicted this persona of a cosmic hostess. I'm very much interested in the idea of the artist as a hostess: You serve up this meal of pleasure and visual and intellectual engagement, like a hostess serves a meal.
You combine many techniques and methods in your work—stenciling, abstract painting, recurring symbols and patterns. How did you arrive at your artistic style?
Originally, when I arrived in Chicago, I was an abstract painter. As I developed the work I moved more and more to this tighter, recognizable rendering of images. So, I had those two languages. And as I continued to work, I found that I could no longer accept one language or create a painting that only presented only one idea of truth.
Are the recurring symbols in "Cosmic Hostess" personal to you?
The symbols are both personal and universal. I gather pictures and images from various sources: I look at the history of textile and design; I think about the pattern and decoration movement from the '70s. A lot of these things come from memory. They are part of the language that I grew up with, from the advertising and popular culture of that time. I also try to find symbols that convey their meaning readily and have the possibility of multiple readings…The boots are biography. I have those white go-go boots!
You are in between galleries right now. Why did you choose to show at the Hyde Park Art Center?
I'm just very interested in the kind of things that HPAC has done. They are showcasing the contemporary creative community here. It's one of the few places that focus on Chicago artists. When Allison Peters, Director of Exhibitions at HPAC, approached me to be one of the first exhibits in the new building, I was thrilled.
Where do you go in Chicago to get inspired for making art?
I get inspired by teaching at the School of the Art Institute. The students have a lot of interesting ideas that they share with me; they're always turning me on to new music and other current ideas. I'm inspired by the museum itself, particularly the modern section…I'm very influenced by earlier women artists.
What does it mean to you to be an artist in Chicago?
For me it's interesting because I'm originally from New York. I came to Chicago to come to grad school and ended up making a life here, and I found that Chicago was a very generous and hospitable place…engaging intellectually, viscerally and romantically.
A lot of people ask: What part does place in play in one's life or one's work? I have to believe it plays a fairly large role…When people ask me if I’m an artist that lives in Chicago or if I’m a Chicago artist…I have to say I’m an artist that gladly lives in Chicago.
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