Peter Gric, or Petr Gric, (born 1968) is an Austrian

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

drawer A drawer is a box-shaped container inside a piece of furniture that can be pulled out horizontally to access its contents. Drawers are built into numerous types of furniture, including cabinetry, cabinets, Chest of drawers, chests of drawers ...

, and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

originally from the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. Motives of futuristic landscapes and architecture, biomechanical surrealism, and

fantastic realism The Vienna School of Fantastic Realism (german: Wiener Schule des Phantastischen Realismus) is a group of artists founded in Vienna in 1946. It includes Ernst Fuchs, Maître Leherb (Helmut Leherb), Arik Brauer, Wolfgang Hutter and Anton Lehmd ...

can be found in his work.Inspiration: Peter gric
/ref> Gric is a member of the

art group An art group or artist group, sometimes also an artist collective, describes itself as an open or fixed association of artists to a group with a name. Founders and initiators of artist groups are mostly well-known artists, around whom similarly thin ...

s Libellule and Labyrinthe.Leoplaw: Peter Gric

Life

Petr Gric was born in 1968 in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

, former

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. His parents supported his talent in painting and drawing, which he exhibited when he was young.Peter Gric#Info
/ref> In 1980 his parents, under the pretense described as vacation travel, emigrated through Hungary and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

to Austria, and Gric thenceforth lived in Western Europe. They spent one year in the countryside of

Reichenau an der Rax Reichenau an der Rax is a market town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, situated at the foot of the Rax mountain range on the '' Schwarza'' river, a headstream of the Leitha. History Reichenau castle was first mentioned in a 1256 deed. Du ...

. They soon moved to

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

where Gric finished primary school and studied

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

at the

Höhere Technische Lehranstalt A Höhere Technische Lehranstalt (German for ''Higher Technical Education Institute'', or in a transferred sense ''Technical College''), commonly known as HTL, is an engineering-focused secondary school in Austria. As an umbrella term it is used ...

. In 1988 he moved to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

where he began to study under

Arik Brauer Arik Brauer ( he, אריק בראואר; 4 January 1929 – 24 January 2021) was an Austrian painter, printmaker, poet, dancer, singer-songwriter, stage designer, architect, and academic teacher. Brauer, from a family of Jewish emigrants, grew ...

at the

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...

. He finished his studies with a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

degree in 1993. While still in college, he participated in several exhibitions and started to sell his work successfully. In 1996, Gric presented his work about the connection of painting and computer graphics at the

. In 2009, he moved from Vienna to

Höflein an der Hohen Wand Höflein an der Hohen Wand is a town in the district of Neunkirchen in the Austrian state of Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, ...

Work

Working as an artist for a living, he creates new works irregularly. Prior to exhibiting, he works tirelessly, but often without producing anything for weeks, only experimenting with graphic software and geometry for his new work. Smaller format works take him a few days or weeks to complete. Large works take him months to complete. However, many of them have been in the works for a long time and will not be completed for several years. Some of his works are several meters in size.

Techniques

Gric uses

oil paint Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and varn ...

acrylic paint Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Depe ...

, or combinations thereof. He also uses

airbrush An airbrush is a small, air-operated tool that atomizes and sprays various media, most often paint but also ink and dye, and foundation. Spray painting developed from the airbrush and is considered to employ a type of airbrush. History U ...

es. Most of his work he designs in graphic software and the more complex pieces, he models in

3D software 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the ...

.Interview with Peter Gric
/ref> Despite his work in computer graphics, it is not his primary medium.

Motives

His art is a combination of futuristic landscapes and architecture, biomechanical surrealism and

. Before his artistic career, he was influenced by

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

illustrators Chris Moore,

Peter Elson Peter Elson (13 January 1947 – March 1998) was an English science fiction illustrator whose work appeared on the covers of numerous science fiction paperback novels, as well as in the Terran Trade Authority series of illustrated books. Biogr ...

and by ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' movies. However, his biggest influence was

surrealistic Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

paintings by his father, and artists like

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...

Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism ...

, Ernst Fuchs,

Rudolf Hausner Rudolf Hausner (4 December 1914, Vienna – 25 February 1995, Mödling) was an Austrian painter, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. Hausner has been described as a "psychic realist" and "the first psychoanalytical painter" (Gunter Engelhardt). ...

Samuel Bak Samuel Bak ( he, שמואל בק; born 12 August 1933) is a Lithuanian-American painter and writer who survived the Holocaust and immigrated to Israel in 1948. Since 1993, he has lived in the United States. Biography Samuel Bak was born in Wilno ( ...

Alfred Kubin Alfred Leopold Isidor Kubin (10 April 1877 – 20 August 1959) was an Austrian printmaker, illustrator, and occasional writer. Kubin is considered an important representative of Symbolism (arts), Symbolism and Expressionism. Biography Kubin wa ...

, Hans Ruedi Giger and later

Zdzisław Beksiński Zdzisław Beksiński (; 24 February 192921 February 2005) was a Polish painter, photographer, and sculptor, specializing in the field of dystopian surrealism. Beksiński made his paintings and drawings in what he called either a Baroque or a Go ...

Odd Nerdrum Odd Nerdrum (born 8 April 1944) is a Norwegian figurative painter, born in Sweden, and considered to be one of the greatest living classical figurative painters. His work is held by museums worldwide. Themes and style in Nerdrum's work referenc ...

and

De Es Schwertberger De Es Schwertberger (born Dieter Schwertberger 1942), commonly known simply as De Es (since 1972), is an Austrian artist, painter and modeller. His work has been shown in exhibitions in New York City, where he lived for a short time, and Switzerl ...

. Most of his inspirations are from nature and architecture, but he is also fascinated by

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

, abstract geometry and women's bodies. Gric creates visions and fantasy that he himself can't explain. Like Beksiński, he doesn't care about interpretations of his works. Gric declared about his art:

Exhibitions and collaboration

In 2007, he participated in the design of the

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

for the SamPlay production ''Hamlet in Rock''. In 2010, he worked on the Concept Design for the project "At the Mountains of Madness" by director

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films ''Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and ''The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for Be ...

. From 2011 to 2015, Gric was teaching at the

.Facebook -Peter Gric
/ref> Many of Gric's works are in personal or public collections: Austrian state gallery Belvedere; Immuno AG; Municipal Gallery in

Traun Traun () is an Austrian city located on the north bank of the river Traun and borders Linz, the capital of Upper Austria, to the east. The name ''Traun'' is derived from the Celtic word for river (''dru''). Traun is the fifth largest city in U ...

; Kunstlerhaus München; Art Visionary Collection in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

; Rardy van Soest Collection in

Houten Houten () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. Population centres The municipality consists of the following towns: * 't Goy * Houten * Schalkwijk * Tull en 't Waal Houten (town) The main town in the municipality is ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

; Trierenberg Art in

; beinArt Collection, Australia; Westermann Collection, Germany.

Publications

* 1990 - ''Meisterschule Brauer - Oberes Belvedere '90'' (Hubert Adolph, Arik Brauer, Regine Schmidt) (Austrian Gallery

Belvedere (palace) The Belvedere is a historic building complex in Vienna, Austria, consisting of two Baroque palaces (the Upper and Lower Belvedere), the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the third district o ...

, Vienna) * 1993 - ''Peter Gric - Katalog'' (Dalibor Truhlar) (Edition Lyra) * 1993 - ''Akademie der bildenden Künste - Diplomarbeiten 1993'' (Carl Pruscha) (

Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...

) * 1994 - ''Kick off'' () (

) * 1997 - ''Vier Meisterschulen für Malerei der Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien'' (Dr. Heinz Fischer, Elisabeth v. Samsonow, Arik Brauer) (

) * 2000 - ''Phantastik am Ende der Zeit'' (Thomas Engelhardt, Christine Ivanovic) (Town Museum Erlangen) * 2000 - ''gegen-stand - Projekt Donauauen'' (Wilhelm Molterer, Dr.Bernd Lötsch) (

Naturhistorisches Museum The Natural History Museum Vienna (german: Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) is a large natural history museum located in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the most important natural history museums worldwide. The NHM Vienna is one of the largest museum ...

/ Museum of Natural History, Vienna) * 2001 - ''ARSFANTASTICA - Die Sammlung bei der Ernst Fuchs Pate stand'' (Hubert Klocker, Gerhard Habarta, Milan Vukovich) (ISMAEL.cc) * 2004 - ''Trierenberg Art - Kunst im Werk'' (Christian Trierenberg, Dr. Christian Hinterobermaier) (Trierenberg Holding AG) * 2004 - ''The illustrated to think like God : Pythagoras and Parmenides : the origins of philosophy'' (Arnold Hermann) (Parmenides Publishing) * 2007 - ''Metamorphosis'' (beinArt) * 2007 - ''L’ange exquis: Être Ange, Étrange'' (Libellule Ltd.)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gric Peter Contemporary painters Fantastic art Fantastic realism Modern artists 1968 births Living people Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni Austrian artists