REPETITION WORKS BY
PETER MILLETT &
JEREMY THOMAS Bentley Gallery Exhibition March 20th - May 9th 2020 BENTLEY GALLERY | 215 East Grant Street Phoenix, AZ 85004 | 480-946-6060 | www.bentleygallery.com
Bentley Gallery is delighted to present Repetition, a two-person show featuring works by Peter Millett and Jeremy Thomas. Both artists are pragmatic in their artistic approach, adhering to a processbased practice that employ the use of recurring forms to create inspired sculptures. Millett constructs distinct structures through an additive process born from intuition and curiosity. Thomas inflates sumptuous metal shapes with pressurized air to bring them into full dimensionality. Each artist explores a geometric language of shape and space, underscored by a high degree of skill and imagination. A seasoned traveler, Peter Millett draws inspiration from his extensive trips through North America, South America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Exploring the architecture, native art forms, religion, and handmade textiles specific to the region. By paring down his observations, Millett creates sculptures that investigate geometry, shape, space, color, and surface. Working with the wood grain as a textural underpinning, the artist layers stain or paint to emphasize the history within each work. The works are not obviously referential of any one place, but instead are several places and moments distilled, allowing the viewer to bring their own memories and references to each piece. Jeremy Thomas’ sculptures are made of steel; cut, welded, and folded into geometric shapes. The metal is heated to well over 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit at which point the metal becomes as supple and elastic as clay. Thomas then inflates the forms with air; here chance comes into action as metal and air interact. Finally, he uses different techniques such as powder coating, acrylic urethane and rust patina to create vibrant surfaces that reference industrial machinery, cosmetics, muscle cars, and aged and oxidized abandoned items. The combination of color, material, and sensual forms sets up an interesting juxtaposition. The forms, solid as they are, seem to rest at some ineffable point between chance and intention, lighthearted and serious, feminine and masculine.
PETER MILLETT
Blue Flap painted wood 11 x 11 x 18 inches 2010
Green Flame painted wood 26 x 15 x 8 inches 2020
Red Window painted wood 30 x 12 x 4 inches 2014
Green Mask painted wood 12 x 6 x 6 inches 2020
Bridge painted wood 17 x 8 x 8 inches 2020
White Post painted wood 27 x 9 x 6 inches 2018
Howl painted wood 18 x 13 x 11 inches 2015
Four Square painted wood 10 x 5 x 7 inches 2017
Two Story painted wood 7 x 10 x 5 inches 2020
Log On painted cedar 18 x 9 x 9 inches 2016
Double Cross painted wood 21 x 11 x 11 inches 2020
Walking Woman painted wood 21 x 11 x 5 inches 2012
Double Diamond painted wood 33 x 9 x 4 inches 2019
Red Flap painted wood 11 x 11 x 8 inches 2020
Luna metal leaf on wood 14 x 14 x 14 inches 2014
Venus cedar 9 x 18 x 7 inches 2020
JEREMY THOMAS
BP Yellow forged mild steel and acrylic urethane 22 x 29 x 17.5 inches 2020
Jenda Magenta forged mild steel and acrylic urethane 7.5 x 12 x 10 inches 2020
BASF Green forged mild steel and acrylic urethane 23.5 x 25.5 x 16 inches 2020
Sinopec Red forged mild steel and acrylic urethane 26 x 24 x 19.5 inches 2020
Ovintiv Grey forged mild steel and acrylic urethane 21 x 21 x 19 inches 2020
Chesapeake Blue cold rolled steel and powder coat 22 x 27 x 24 inches 2020
Hidden Blues forged mild steel and acrylic urethane 8.5 x 17 x 10 inches 2020
Covestro Yellow cold rolled steel and powder coat 38 x 60 x 48 inches 2020
S K Orange forged mild steel and acrylic urethane 21 x 18 x 30 inches 2020
Acura Gold forged mild steel and acrylic urethane 10 x 13 x 11 inches 2020
Exxon Red cold rolled steel and powder coat 38 x 60 x 48 inches 2020
All Lacquered Up White forged mild steel and acrylic urethane 11 x 16 x 9 inches 2020
Evonik Violet cold rolled steel, powder coat and urethane 36 x 37.5 x 19 inches 2020
IH Module Express Red forged cold rolled steel and urethane 8.5 x 17.5 x 10 inches 2020
PNM Orange cold rolled steel, powder coat and urethane 30 x 41 x 32 inches 2020
Shell Yellow cold rolled steel and powder coat 26 x 26 x 17 inches 2020
Aromatic Carbon I forged rolled steel and urethane 8 x 17 x 11 inches 2020