Peter Powning

A CBC New Brunswick Book List Selection

“I start with an original object, break it, and transform parts of the piece into other materials. These pieces gather meaning and explanation as I work with them.”

Peter Powning is simultaneously referred to as a sculptor and a ceramist, but his art does not fit easy categorization, incorporating and combining elements from one medium into another. His work challenges the viewer to reconsider the object, its form, and its function. This inventiveness has resulted in numerous exhibitions, awards, and commissions for public art sculptures throughout Canada.

Featuring 175 full-colour images of Powning’s work along with essays by curators and critics, Peter Powning celebrates the career of one of Canada’s finest visual artists and accompanies a major retrospective exhibition organized by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.

AUTHOR

John Leroux

John Leroux has practised in the fields of art history, architecture, visual art, curation, and education. He is currently the manager of collections and exhibitions at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. Leroux holds a bachelor of architecture degree from McGill University, a master’s in art history from Concordia University, and a PhD in history from the University of New Brunswick. He was a team member of Canada’s entry at the 2012 Venice Biennale in architecture, and he has taught at the University of New Brunswick, the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, and St. Thomas University. Leroux is the author or editor of sixteen books, including Peter Powning: A Retrospective, The Lost City: Ian MacEachern’s Photographs of Saint John, and Wabanaki Modern: The Artistic Legacy of the 1960s “Micmac Indian Craftsmen”.

Reviews

“A pleasure to read, and the perfect coffee table book to showcase inventive New Brunswick art.”
– [EDIT]

“The book is much more than a usual exhibition catalogue: its bilingual text and images of the work, most photographed by Powning himself, offer a rare, intimate glimpse into a life devoted to the pursuit of a multi-disciplined practice.”
– Billie