Cave Painting to Street Art - 40,000 Years of Creativity, Rizzoli Publishing "In his work "Dust to Dust", Peterson asserts that a man of negligible social status who inhabits the lowest stratum of society is just as worthy of having his portrait painted as any titled individual or famous person, and, more importantly, just as deserving of having his humanity recognized."
American Culture in the 20th Century, Edinburgh University Press "Photorealist painting is also called hyper-realism and painters like Richard Estes, Denis Peterson, Audrey Flack, and Chuck Close often worked from photographic stills to create paintings that appeared to be photographs. The hyperrealist genre is clearly more than an attempt to replicate the mechanical action of taking a photograph."
Denis Peterson, Poets and Artists Magazine "Denis Peterson’s hyperrealist paintings are stunning visual statements peppered with underlying socio-economic paradigms. In viewing them, it becomes immediately apparent that techniques and methods are a product of his work, not the other way around. The illusion of reality as a transformational aesthetic is a virtual means to an end."
Perceptions of Reality, American Art Collector Magazine "Peterson's paintings have a timeless symbolic meaning rather than the mere appearance of a photograph. While hyper-real in definition, they are also breaking from the structures of photography."
Photorealism: More Than Eye Candy, Art and Antiques Magazine "A photorealist painting is always more than it appears to be. In the recent splinter movement of hyperrealism, Peterson's semiotic paintings are more deliberate polymorphic illusions of reality and considerably less monolithic than those found in traditional photorealism. These works invite wonder both for their high standard of craftsmanship and the individual vision of the artist."
Sentire La Realta” (To Feel the Truth), L'Aperitivo Illustrato Magazine "As a counter culture school of art, Denis Peterson's hyperrealism seems to incorporate POP culture within an existential frame of reference. At times phantasmagorical, these optically convincing images are often their own simulacra - altered realities challenging verisimilitude, perception and illusion."
Art Reflects Truth, Deseret News "As metaphors that tell our current society's story, these images expose the doubt and vulnerability that many in this nation feel, but they also bring a sense of humanity that can unite us and help us feel the burdens borne by our fellow citizens."
The Globe and Mail "In creating these painstaking, handmade works, Mr. Peterson is working in an artistic tradition that goes at least as far back as the Renaissance. The results speak for themselves."
European Union Times "Artist Denis Peterson leaves onlookers impressed with his real life scenes showing cities around the world – but gobsmacked when they realise every inch of these pictures are painted."
The UK Telegraph "This may look like a photograph of a New York street. But it is actually a painting by Denis Peterson."
UK Daily Mail "At first glance some of his works look like a simple billboard over a busy urban setting. But on closer inspection the hidden secret is revealed - even the tiny people and obscure reflections on background windows have been conjured up by his brushstrokes."
Dr. Carleton Palmer, NY Examiner "Living with artwork differs from briefly witnessing art on exhibition. All of Peterson's works are well-made, capture attention at the surface level, and provoke immediate admiration of technique. This makes them visual arguments that can be lived with while one works into the deeper levels of discourse."
Art Without Edges, Art Info "Very beautiful and so exquisitely crafted that I initially took them for photographs upon reviewing his painting exhibition at the gallery. Peterson’s work is serious, sophisticated...it is politically and morally engaged."
Keep it Hyper Real, WordPress "Peterson imbues something of himself into the work, which is why his images for me succeed where his contemporaries do not. He doesn’t just paint street scenes. Devoid of any human presence, his locations are ripe for ghosts, the atmosphere heavy with unassuaged yearning."
Brenda Blackmon, Real Time with Hyperrealist Denis Peterson, WORTV "This is an artist who has chosen to use his art as a humanitarian effort to change the world."
Denham Hitchcock Interviews Denis Peterson, Australian Nine MSNTV "They are the images of everyday life, snapshots of a busy, sometimes lonely, existence. But there's a difference. The images are not photos, but paintings! Only a handful of artists can achieve this result."
Fergal Keane, Special Correspondent, BBCTV “To witness genocide is to feel not only the chill of your own mortality, but the degradation of all humanity. Even the most brilliant photography cannot capture the landscape of genocide...as seen in his painting series "Don't Shed No Tears."
Realism Now Catalog, McLean Project for the Arts "Denis Peterson's work exemplifies cityscape photorealism at its best. The precision, color and exactitude are rich in technique and composition.”
A Brush Stroke for Every Human Suffering, Media Watch "This instance of hyperrealism is a performance art. Viewers are deliberately made to notice the amazing amount of time and painstaking effort that went into portraying this. Peterson isn't showing off; he is a radical painter, compelling us with his dedication. The astonishing realism is in the context of reflected light from every other object in the scene."
Urban Perspectives, NYC Art "His latest series is a showcase for how far he can take his abilities: he is, really, an Olympic-level athlete of painting. I've seen a lot of fantastic painters in my time, academically trained and otherwise, but Denis is in a class by himself. He is the Michael Phelps of painting, the Usain Bolt of airbrush and paintbrush. He makes Vermeer look like Jackson Pollock."
John Bittinger Klomp, Denis Peterson's Metamodernist/Hyperrealist Art "His work addresses a sense of loss, pain/angst concerning our position in a culture dominated by corporate America. People are viewed (once again) as individuals..., some so completely lost, that they are no longer individuals. The images themselves seem to go beyond, past, refer back to photo realism, and photography."
Mary Birmingham, Art Curator “Loss of home is an unbearable consequence of diaspora. Denis Peterson's hyperrealist portrait of a homeless man in "Dust to Dust" is a stark reminder of humanity displaced."
Thomas Paul, Thomas Paul Gallery "The fundamental component in Denis Peterson's dynamic works is not necessarily the subject of the painting, but with man's proximity to it. Although often misinterpreted as a mere visual depiction, Denis' paintings address the banality of the human condition, whether it be the streets of New York or the fields of Darfur."
C. Ashley, Look See “Peterson’s painted images are so highly crafted, detailed, and labor intensive…that the message is simply ‘I believe, and I care. Look at this. It is important.’ To do this, the artist lives with images so intensely that they become familiar and internal, alive and emotional…it becomes part of the viewer's experience.”
The Hyperrealism of Denis Peterson, Empty Kingdom "Profound and powerful, and I'm not just talking about his work, Denis Peterson is way out there."
To inquire about commissions or available work, please email info@denispeterson.com