…We are confined in our historical moment, in the accidents and myths of our own era into which we may have imperfect insights.
—Barbara Novak, from Voyages of the Self, 2007

Peter Allen Hoffmann’s paintings harken to a historical optimism through the combined rendering of both paintings of quilts and the American landscape. By taking a close examination of the hand in craft in conversation with boundless vistas, Hoffmann’s new series of paintings reference a former idea of self that still haunts the present.

About the quilt paintings Hoffmann says:

The process of crafting these quilts is similar to how I approach the paintings– a lengthy process of detailed planning, and then execution. Women worked from existing traditional patterns, but also processed and interpreted these patterns based on their own personal, religious, regional, and historical context…the metaphor of the pieced quilt extends to the other work as well. While the sources of the imagery are disparate — art historical, observed from life, abstraction — they exist for me equally as images I have experienced, continue to experience, and for whatever reason, cannot let go.

Peter Allen Hoffmann received his MFA from Hunter College of CUNY in 2005, and his BFA from Bard College in 2001; he has had numerous solo and group shows at Freight+Volume, The Painting Center in NY, Thomas Robertello in Chicago, the Wexford Art Centre in Ireland among many others. He has received awards and travel grants from Hunter College, CUNY and Cow House Studios in Ireland. His work has been reviewed extensively in a variety of national and international art and literary publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Art Korea, The Chicago Tribune, and Useless magazine. He lives and works in Philadelphia, PA.