Visiting Artist: Peter Saul

Long before Bad Painting became a central concern of contemporary art, San Francisco-born painter Peter Saul deliberately offended good taste. Employing a crossover of Pop Art, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, San Francisco funk and cartoon culture of the 1960s, Saul’s work addresses the pressing political and social issues that underlie American culture. Vietnam, Reagan, protests, sex, drugs, and the American dream clash in paintings rendered in screaming Day-Glo colors. Throughout his over fifty-year career, he has explored difficult subjects with transgressive yet engaging humor, influencing generations of young artists in the process. His work can be found in the collections of major museums across the world, including the Art institute of Chicago, Centre Georges Pompidou, Moderna Museet, Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, The Museum of Modern Art, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, to name just a few. Hosted by the graduate programs in Painting and Sculpture at Boston University, the Tuesday Night MFA Lecture series brings practicing artists to campus to present their work. All lectures are free and open to the public.