Peter has strong views on the futility of war. “All wars are just fought for strategic or political motives. They’re all about trying to get at resources. Even when they pretend to be about humanitarianism they’re not”. His anti-war stance is a recurring theme in his work - coupled with images of impotence and inactivity in the face of it all. In one painting a man cowers under his coat whilst a dog snaps at his heels. In another an apathetic couple sit by whilst signs of war are all around them.
One of the most startling images in the collection is of a boy being crucified whilst several grotesque men play dice around the table in the foreground. “It was inspired by the story of Ali Ismaeel Abbas”, I am told. “He was twelve when a US missile hit his house during the bombing of Baghdad. He suffered a head injury, 60% burns and lost both arms. He also lost his family”. Drawing on Christian imagery, it is a savage indictment of the people who profit from war.
Finally Peter shows me another recent piece - of a simplified modern day social pyramid. “It’s based on the illustrations which appeared in the early 1900s. They were like wedding cakes with different classes on each platform”, he tells me. In Peter’s version all the ordinary people appear at the bottom, alive with colour. Then come the police, like a balcony supporting the figures of religion and the law. Topping the cake are three grey shadowy shapes of power. “The viewer is left to figure out who they are”.
So is your painting your version of fighting back, I finish, like the boy throwing the stone? “Well sort of. I get upset, so it’s sort of therapy?” Then are you the man under the coat? “I’m afraid I probably am”. ER