Photorealism paintings in the late 1960s and early 1970s were a reflection of reality based on a photographic genre that became a mainstream school of art following Abstract Expressionism and POP Art. This was not achieved by meticulously duplicating details in a photo. In fact, the illusion was created through tonal changes and inter-relationships of shapes not dissimilar to Abstract Expressionism. Without these elements, the work would have lost its visceral energy.

It is no longer enough to just secure the painting as a realist object. Idiosyncratic anomalies in digital reference photos, i.e., multiple depths of field, expanded color range, low resolution images, broken fractals, etc. are all explored. Since the human eye does not ordinarily distinguish these somewhat inchoate mutations, they are freely assimilated into the work.

My new work has evolved into a more advanced photographic genre, Hyperrealism - an extreme form of photorealism. It is still photorealism: however, it has progressed by altering the viewer's perception through an illusion of actual reality, as opposed to merely reflecting a representation of reality. Hyperrealism is an optically convincing, altered reality that challenges the verisimilitude of perception and illusion. As a counter culture school of painting, hyperrealism incorporates an existential frame of reference: in the new work, it is POP culture.

To some, these paintings appear "just like photos" - they are anything but - more so they are deliberate polymorphic illusions of a non-existent reality.

"Western artists such as David, da Vinci and Denis Peterson are important in part because of their skill and innovation, but also because they come from cultures that dominate the modern global power scene. Renaissance painters catered to emerging capitalism, the sons in David’s painting "Oath of the Horatii" symbolize French colonies, and Peterson’s Darfur painting, “Don’t Shed No Tears” provokes America to intervene with her wealth." - Ari Siletz, Commentaries