8/13/2019 Peter Axe Magazine
2/3
A X E S S
P
HOTOC
REDITHERE
These are the first words that Peter
Tunney says when I meet him at his studio
in Manhattans Tribeca neighborhood. The
immensely successul 49-year-old artist has
a shock o blond hair and a smooth, boyish
ace that belies his age. His white polo andcargo shorts, which
would be appropriate on
a gol course or at a New England country
club, are splattered with resh paint. Ater
giving an enthusiastic, ast-paced tour o his
canvas-filled studio, Tunney sits down to
talk about his lie and his art.
Aside rom his appearance, the most
salient thing about Tunney is that he is a
talker. In the span o two minutes and 30
words o introduction, he is already in ull
stride, whirling dervish-like rom topic
to topic, spinning connections in fields as
disparate as politics, music, science, history,
the uture o art, his childhoodall at his
characteristically renetic, high-octane
speed. In another typical sentence, Tunney
unsel-consciously rattles off the names
o Picasso, Man Ray, John Nash, Galileo,
Socrates, and Proust. Words seem to rush out
o him in little verbal avalanches o thought.
Two hours into our interview, we have to
stop short because Tunney has exhausted the
battery o my tape recorder.
It is, indeed, rather hard to keep up.For Tunneys latest
project, he tells me
that he has been reading the dictionary. He
says that he has noticed that most people
dont know the definition o the words they
toss around. I find that ninety percent o
dialogue is gibberish. Its so predictable, the
Democrat and Republican intractability.
Theres no boundary, theres no respect.
You ever hear o the word amaranthine?
he suddenly asks.
I shake my head.
I saw this word in the dictionary the other
day, and I thought it was pretty cool. The guy
I was sitting with, my accountant, he says
something like, Who would ever use that
word? So I told him, you know what, I would. It
means unading and everlasting. And thats
what I want my art to be. ( Continuedon page 62)
THE TRUTH
ALWAYS HA PPENS
Original painting, acrylic paint andcollage of mixed media on
canvas.48 x 60
WE ARE ALL
STUMBLING
Original painting, acrylicpaint and collage of mixedmedia on
canvas.60" x 48
TRY TO KEEP UP WITH ME.
P E T E R T U N N E Y
I WAN T TOPUT A TIMERELEASEBOMB OFPOSITIVITYIN
YOURLIVINGROOM.
8/13/2019 Peter Axe Magazine
3/3
A X E S S
I you wanted to put a label on Tunneys
art, you could describe it as a unique species
o optimistic Pop ArtWarhol with a
smile. His work is defined by meticulously
hand-painted text over a dizzying array o
sourcespastiches o newspaper clippings,
magazine advertisements, surfoards, or
the detached ender o a car. T hese messages(The Time Is Always
Now, Enough Is
Possible, etc.) are unpretentious, and though
they may seem overly glib to some, they
reflect sentiments that, or Tunney, are both
deeply personal and deeply elt. Rather than
negatively critiquing American consumerism
in the vein o most Pop Art, Tunneys work
transcends the mire o mere pessimism and
leaves the viewer with a eeling o hope and
peace, just as the messages in his paintings
seem to overpower the background noise o
newspaper clippings and other media.
He tells me, I want to put this time-release
bomb o positivity in your living room, and
let it affect you and your amily over the next
twenty-five years, one living room at a ti me.
As ar as work is concerned, Tunneys
business is booming. Earlier that day, a
string o collectors had come in or arranged
visits to his studio; Tunney accepts visitors
only by appointment. I ask the artist why
his paintings have been selling so quickly.
He attributes it, paradoxically, to the bad
economy. People are tired o being cynical.
Its the old expressionthey are sick and tired
o being sick and tired.Beore becoming an artist, Tunney
worked
at an astonishing sequence o jobs. He has
been an immensely successul Wall Street
investor in biotechnology, a stock broker, a
club manager, a car dealer, a movie producer,
and a magician. Now he is a well-regarded and
an accomplished artist in his own right.
The man is brimming with stories: about
how he lived in a 1,000-square-oot art
pad in the middle o the popular Crobar
club in New York City or one year o
debauchery; about his adventures in Arica
with world-renowned phot ographer Peter
Beard, and how Beard was once stomped on
by an elephant and lived; about the crazed
antics o the late Hunter S. Thompson;
about winning a gol tournament in Bhutan;
and about celebrating New Years in So
Paolo with Brazilian soccer legend Pel.
Ive had a pretty wild lie, Tunney admits.
Tunney tells me that recently he has been
involved in plans or a billboard project in
New York City. Its called the Gratitude
Project. The idea is that youll be driving
into New York City and instead o seeing a
billboard trying to sell you some kind o caror vodka, itll just
say Gratitude, or Remain
Calm, or Today Is the Day. Everything
these days is ast, ast, ast. I think that
people need to slow down sometimes and
appreciate lie, you know?
When asked about the contemporary art
scene, Tunney expresses disgust or some
o the newer art. I dont like this kind o
contemporary art with string and cereal
boxes. It goes away; its too impermanent. I
like art to say something that will last a long
time. Most people will never throw [one o
my paintings] away. You move into a new
apartment, and its like a good riend. Its one
o the ew things that can be a constant in
your lie. Its there or you. It never changes;
it marks the time. Unading and everlasting, I
really like that. Its amaranthine.
PETER TUNNEY
The artist sits at hisdesk in Tunney Art, his
studio and gallery inTribeca, New York City.
TUNNEY MUNNEY
Hand-painted oil paintand 23-karat-gold leaf onhandcrafted
hardwood box.22 x 10 x 6
F E A T U R E
