As the extraordinary D*FACE show comes down, another show goes up – and just when you thought that Metro Gallery couldn’t possibly continue this run of amazing art on its wall, well.

We can’t express how happy we were to see the details of this show arrive in our inbox. We consider Michael Peck to be amongst one of the top calibre painters in the country today, and each new piece we see from his hand … well, it just blows us away.

“Themes of isolation and displacement have continually reoccurred in my paintings over time. I’m always seeking to create a tension in the work; the suspense in the feeling that something is just about to happen, as if the landscape could suddenly swallow everything and everyone up. I think art is a good place to be able to engage with our anxieties. We live in a social, political and environmental climate that is pretty hostile, yet we do our best to mask our fears. I think that art provides a context where people’s fears can be corroborated; it helps us to know that others share the same concerns and helps us feel less alone. Ironically there is an abstract comfort in recognition of this shared isolation”.

“Both my grandfathers fought in World War II and when they both passed away within months of one another in 2010, I could not help but think that I knew so little about their lives,” says Peck.  “Both had witnessed terrible things.  Bob somehow survived the sinking of two ships and Richard spent three years in a Japanese POW camp.  But neither of them spoke about their experiences, preferring to bury them in the past and get on with their lives. 

“Much though I loved them, I was always aware that I knew very little about the major events in their lives that had shaped them into the men I knew.  My insight into their life experiences was always like a child’s – naïve at best.  My world was totally safe and secure and even if they had explained it to me, I was totally incapable of feeling any true empathy for what they had themselves been through.”

As a special bonus also, Stupidkrap have wonderfully commissioned one of Pecks pieces to sell as a limited edition print in their online store – these will not last, so get in there quick if you want one.

Seriously, this is great stuff.

Who: Michael Peck
What: The Landing – solo show
Where: Metro Gallery,
When: Show opens Wednesday, 16th November, 6:30pm til 8:30pm – show runs until the 3rd December.

Check out Michael Pecks website for a mass of great art, as well as the facebook event page and the Metro Gallery website.