Peter Anton “SUGATARIUM”

Unix Gallery

[Image: Peter Anton "Sugar Madness - Chocolate Bunny” (2017) Mixed media 74 x 50 x 11 in.]

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UNIX Gallery presents SUGATARIUM, an explosive solo exhibition of new works by artist Peter Anton. SUGATARIUM explores the uncontrollable and insanely addictive hold sugar has on us. In these troubled and unsettled times – where nothing seems to make sense – artist Peter Anton heightens the delirium by transforming Manhattan’s UNIX Gallery into a “SUGATARIUM.”

Monumental-sized, vibrant, and hyper-realistic sculptures – including a cherry pie, an ice cream sundae, cake, macarons, and other sugary treats – will be smashed, mushed, splattered, broken and thrown throughout the space. Anton’s sculptures are highly detailed and hand-crafted from carefully selected and manipulated materials, including resin, plaster, wood, clay, aluminum, and acrylic and oil paints.

“Sugar raises the dopamine levels in the ‘rewards center’ of our brains,” says Anton. “As with many blissful activities, there is a fine line between pleasure and destruction. The vibrant colors and almost violent way the works are depicted illustrate this link.”

He describes the transformed space as “an asylum that is locked up and long forgotten. Visitors must sneak into the ‘SUGATARIUM’ through an open window. Institutional beds await the new ‘patients’ where they can rest and view the artwork while confronting their own dependence on sweets.” At the exhibition opening, for their own safety, visitors will only be allowed to speak with Mr. Anton through a glass partition via a phone intercom system!

In 2015 Peter Anton created The Foodhist Temple, transforming UNIX Gallery into a food sanctuary – a shrine devoted to the celebration of food and life. His mixed media sculptures of delectable sweets and savory foods were displayed at various “altars” stationed throughout the space. Visitors were asked to remove their shoes upon entering. Pillows and rugs were scattered on the floor. Believers could relax, reflect, and achieve a heightened awareness of the importance of food and all of its pleasures.

The artist is also known for the project Sugar & Gomorrah at Art Basel Miami in 2012. The interactive sculpture was the world’s first art installation in which participants were transported through an exhibition aboard an amusement ride. An actual roller coaster snaked its way through the remnants of a destructed city filled with tumbling pillars, fire, and skeletons – juxtaposed with larger-than-life sculptures of sugary treats and scantily dressed live models.

Peter Anton’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in museums in Europe and the United States, including the Museum Jan van der Togt in Amstelveen, The Netherlands; the William Benton Museum of Art in Storrs, Connecticut; the Museum Villa Rot in Burgrieden-Rot, Germany; the Austin Museum of Art in Texas; the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, New York; the Nassau County Museum in Roslyn, New York; the Fresno Metropolitan Museum in California; the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper, Wyoming; the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut; the Castellani Art Museum, Niagara, New York; and the COPIA Museum in Napa Valley, California.

Named by Forbes Magazine in 2014 as an “artist to watch,” Anton’s work is in numerous private, corporate, and public collections including those of Steven A. Cohen; President Bill Clinton; NIKE; the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art; the Copelouzos Art Museum in Athens, Greece; Siemens AG; Sir Howard Stringer, the CEO of Sony; Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones; the Jordanian Royal Family; architect Lord Norman Foster; Oppenheim Bank; The Blackstone Resort Hotel in Korea; Breitling Watches; Raymond James Financial; candy maker giant Perfetti Van Melle; the Portland Museum of Art; The Dennis Hopper Collection; and Susanne & Wolfgang Porsche.