Peter Beard: Time's Up
Peter Beard once described himself as the ‘ultimate lazy-man’ and ‘someone who has never made plans for anything’. This in many ways could not be further from the truth. Not unlike Verloc in Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent who was equally portrayed as a lazy but not immoral man. A consummate observer who watches and reacts through his art, Peter has the stamina of a man half his age. He has the keen surgical eye of the true artist. He puts both of these qualities to use in almost every waking hour. His life is a turbulent and often amusing existence full of dark humour in a world gone mad on excess. Peter’s method is madness and his output is worth studying closely, regularly at odds with most current thinking on almost any subject – he never takes the easy route.
Peter traveled back to Kenya early in 2006 after an absence of some six years to visit his beloved Hog Ranch, built close to his friend Karen Blixen’s farm (Out of Africa). This journey has inspired him to produce a series of extraordinary new works, which will be exhibited at the Michael Hoppen Gallery in November 2006. This new body of work carries a familiar but reinvigorated theme throughout. Giant, hand-made silver gelatin prints, adorned with collage and objects found during his forays into newspapers, magazines, and on his travels. Small photographs from Peter’s sketch books and diaries, Karen Blixen’s photo diaries, sundries and fripperies from a world in chaos are woven into Peter’s fascinating stories. This abundance of influences dazzles the eye and new layers present themselves each time one revisits a picture.
A man of many parts, Peter Beard is an adventurer, a fanatical diarist, artist, photographer, bon vivant, father and husband. His forays into Kenya are legend. Since the early 1960’s Peter’s life and work have been inextricably entwined with the fate of the wildlife and peoples of Africa. His diaries and collage overflow with graphic images of a world that has almost disappeared from view. The inimitable records and documents he has crafted act as exquisite time capsules and will become valuable social documents of the beauty and contradictions of the world we live in today. Often controversial and outspoken, Peter Beard is someone who has stayed resolute in his opinions and his diaries bear testament to this. Peter defies categorisation, whilst his work is often archetypal; he is without doubt, a true original.
Peter Beard has been a loyal friend and a strong influence to many key 20th century figures. Francis Bacon, Karen Blixen, Truman Capote who chose him to accompany him to San Quentin jail, Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger (Exile on Main Street tour) and Jackie Kennedy who he taught to take pictures. He has survived the rigours of fame and fortune, where many have not. Most importantly he is a visionary artist. Peter published his first works in a series of art books on Africa including The End of the Game (1965), Eyelids of the Morning and Longing for Darkness (1975) and Zara’s Tales (2004) full of beautiful stories and drawings to read to any child fascinated by Africa and it’s secrets. His eagerly anticipated new book will be published by Taschen in late 2006 and is a large monograph with over 624 giant pages. He currently lives between Montauk, New York City and Kenya with his wife Nejma and daughter, Zara.
