Vagrant Wildness

NEW PAINTINGS BY Pete Hocking

June 26TH - July 9th, 2020

This exhibition introduces the first phase of a season-long project, Vagrant Wildness. Combining his walking explorations with his studio and teaching practices, this body of artwork investigates and communicates a love of the wild Cape Cod landscape with people who may not be able to visit this summer because of Covid-19.

Hocking’s vibrant work often explores the spaces in-between the human and non-human world. His paintings reference elements of human activity, such as abandoned roads and fragments of fencing, as a way to signal human impact on and intervention on behalf of local ecology. They also document the shifting landscape, with special concern for the effects of weather on the land.

This summer Hocking’s work is especially influenced by a 1,000 mile walk he’s undertaking to raise money for Provincetown Commons, an arts and economic development center he helped found in 2017. Exploring and investigating the landscape, history and culture of Cape Cod through his walks, he’s documenting the experience for donors on a special Instagram account. Part of what he raises will help support studio and exhibition space for artists, and part will go into a new fund to commission new works from artists experiencing economic hardship because of Covid-19.  “Walking has always been part of my research practice as a painter,” he says. “Now I’ve found a way to use my walks to help other artists and also connect our beautiful landscape with people who can’t visit Cape Cod this year because of the virus.”