In Dimmer, BOLT Resident Erik L. Peterson debuts new works that envelop and destabilize the viewer through small but precise perceptual and spatial shifts.

The works utilize space and surface, luminescence and reflectivity, the wall and the floor, to charge the gallery space with a quiet buzz and an underlying perceptual humor. By engaging ordinary objects and actions that permeate our everyday lives and augment their inherent eccentricities, Peterson’s sculptures dare the viewer to complete the work with their own gaze and body.

Related Programs at EXPO Chicago:

Erik Peterson will also present a companion solo exhibition called Indulge Your Every Whim at EXPO Chicago - the International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art, taking place September 18-21 at Navy Pier (CAC Booth #116). A suite of three sculptures – “Spill,” “Untitled (Flash Wall)” and “Neon Pigeon” – work in tandem to dislodge the viewer’s body from their visual field through unexpected scale, reflective light, and subversive humor. Synthesizing what is sensed by the body and what is perceived on the retina, the sculptures utilize materials that are commonly used to orient and control our movements in urban systems – reflective paint in crosswalks, neon signage, and pigeons – to disorient and obscure their communicative properties. Peterson’s selection for this special presentation was juried by Kate Nesin, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art at the Art Institute of Chicago.

In addition, Peterson was invited by EXPO Chicago President, Tony Karman, to create a site-specific 40-foot long neon sculpture, "Seep," which will hang by the entrance of Navy Pier’s Festival Hall.

For EXPO visit info, click here.

Erik L. Peterson is a Chicago-based sculptor, public artist, and curator. His performative public sculptures and urban choreographies, have been shown in many public spaces and galleries including Eastern Illinois University, Arizona State University, A+D Gallery at Columbia College, and in solo exhibitions and projects at Arrowhead Gallery at Waubonsee Community College, Chicago Artists Coalition, and the Chicago Department of Special Events & Cultural Affairs (DCASE). Peterson is the founder of HPK (Hyde Park Kunstverein), an experimental “community museum” and Qeej Hero, a video game featuring an ancient Hmong musical instrument. Peterson holds a B.F.A in Sculpture from Washington University in St. Louis and an M.F.A. from the University of Illinois at Chicago.