Download file... - Peter H. Begley

Vega essay
Some places, for cultural, economic or political reasons, are transformed into
products of fear. Fear as imposition and domination in a subterranean channel of
communication; fear as an exterminating demon of cultures, fear as an explosive
factor that leads us to shattering anguish; fear imposed by dictatorial law that
disconnects us from the cultural world of our era .
Nonetheless, Peter Begley will not allow his expressive mechanisms to be
snatched away from him. He rescues us.
Begley’ s Subway Series speaks of the environment, of history, of race. Its rich
detail takes us from the sublime to the absurd, from tragedy to comedy -- all the
while metamorphosing into “classical” images of reality.
This sublimation of life and death, of barely discerned happiness and constant
misfortune is this city’s philosophy of life .
The force of Begley’s images jolts the viewer into questioning the canvas itself.
In the midst of the black-lined monochrome, the painter places all of the figures
that have turned their backs on us -- sometimes they are placed on a barely
perceptible innocent blue, or in a relief drawn in sand. Little by little, the
background completely occupies the space until is either converted into a blind
clash of violence or into terrifying silence.
The color is of the Earth. The black line that scratches out or writes thoughts as
each figure is expressed as a world, are like verses. Only a sublimely tortured
spirit can speak so much truth with such simplicity.
Begley is a versatile artist. He is painter, draftsman and sculptor. His restless
ingenuity and ample preparation in multiple disciplines allow him to work
successfully on different levels. In each discipline, Begley projects a unity guided
by a powerful motion and a search for self.
He is a cultured contemporary artist. He has been nourished by the languages of
the past and the present, subjecting them to a metamorphosis where his
personal imprint casts light on the reading of his work . That is why his painting is
visually rich, blending expressive power, temper, feeling and gesture.
Leonora Vega