"Up Close" reception at City Gallery in New Haven Sat., Nov. 2

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Up Close: New Works by Judy Atlas and Tom Peterson
Oct. 31—Nov. 24, 2013.
Opening Reception: Sat., Nov. 2, 2—5 p.m.

Press release from City Gallery

City Gallery presents Up Close, Oct. 31 through Nov. 24. The opening reception is on Sat., Nov. 2, from 2—5 p.m.

Judy Atlas: "From the Outside"

Up Close features new works by Judy Atlas and Tom Peterson. Atlas' paintings and Peterson's photographs are abstractions of small, colorful urban subjects that we often pass by but rarely notice. City Gallery invites the public to view this free exhibit.

Tom Peterson: "Variations with Red"

Reception for Peterson photo show Saturday at City Gallery

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Tom Peterson: Uptown
Apr. 4—28, 2013.
Opening Reception: Sat., Apr. 13, 2—5 p.m.
Artist Talk: Sun., Apr. 28, 2—3 p.m.

Press release from City Gallery

City Gallery presents Uptown, April 4—28. The Opening reception is on Sat., Apr. 13, from 2—5 p.m. There is also a "meet the Artist" on Sun., April 28, between 2 and 3 pm and the artist will be at the gallery to talk about his work.

Tom Peterson: "Styling"

Uptown is a photographic exhibition of new work by Tom Peterson. Peterson’s latest portfolio focuses on New York’s upscale store displays. They present the viewer with today’s use of unique mannequin figures to market store apparel. The use of architectural reflections and angles provide an uptown vantage perspective. The juxtaposed images are open to evoke viewer emotions and interpretation.

Peterson photo reception at Pardee-Morris House in New Haven Friday

Pardee-Morris House
325 Lighthouse Rd., New Haven, (203) 562-4183
Tom Peterson: New Haven Perspectives
Sundays, 1—4 p.m., through July 24, 2011.
Opening reception: Fri., July 15, 5:30—7 p.m.

Press release

The New Haven Museum announced that its Pardee-Morris House will be open to the public free of charge on Sundays in July and August from 1—4 p.m. During July, the Pardee-Morris House will feature New Haven Perspectives, a show of photographs by New Haven photographer Tom Peterson. The artist's reception for the show will be held this Friday, July 15, from 5:30—7 p.m.

Located at 325 Lighthouse Road on the city’s East Shore, the 6000 sq. ft. house, is one of the oldest surviving colonial structures in the state. The original Morris homestead house was built shortly after the founding of the New Haven Colony in the mid-17th century and was burned by the British during their invasion of New Haven in 1779. Once the invaders had been driven off, the Morris family rebuilt so that the structure as its stands today dates from about 1780. It was occupied by seven generations of the Morris family. Gradually, the family sold off parts of their original 170 acres, including the parcel sold to the United States government for construction of the lighthouse, and the house today sits on a little less than one acre. The property was acquired in 1915 by William Pardee, a collateral descendant of the Morris family, who wished to make it his home. At his death in 1918, the property was left to the New Haven Museum, then known as The New Haven Colony Historical Society.

Photographing the unseen places, unseen faces

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Tom Peterson: Out of Sight
Through June 26, 2011.

If the essence of photography is light, in Out of Sight—an exhibition of Tom Peterson's photographs at City Gallery in New Haven—texture would come in a close second.

The show alternates between images of rundown urban environments and facial close-ups of the people who inhabit those environments.

In the urban landscapes, Peterson captures the rough stippling of painted concrete, the weathered grain of a wood door, the stolidity of brick and the jagged line of broken glass. The diagonal lines of scorched wooden boards on a fire-gutted house in "Yesterday's Footprint #2" contrast with dark fractal-like swirls of grain in a panel sealing a window opening. Color enters the equation in a bold way in "Crack," an image of a concrete wall painted in bold blue and green. From the top right center a meandering thin crack—a wayward tributary or stream through a verdant forest—wends its way toward the center of the image, bordered by a white glow.

The portraits are new for Peterson. He photographed individuals he has met on his walks, primarily in New Haven. (One portrait was shot in Boston.) According to Peterson, his subjects asked him for money. Peterson, in turn, asked permission to photograph them. With their consent, he did so and reciprocated with more money than they expected. But it was important for Peterson that the interaction didn't end as a mere transaction. He engaged his subjects in conversation to try and get to know them.


Texture signifies here as well as in the landscapes. Their faces reflect tribulation and the weathering of hard times but also a fierce pride. In the portrait of "Robert," the wiry explosion of his gray Afro frames his large face. By choosing to move in close on his subjects, Peterson closes some of the visual distance that so often exists between those who live on society's margins and the rest of us. Their eyes appear to fix ours, returning our gaze. It is an illusion, of course. But to engage and not turn away is a start.

Photography show reception at City Gallery Saturday afternoon

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Tom Peterson: Out of Sight
June 2—26, 2011.
Opening reception, Sat., June 4, 3—6 p.m.

Press release

City Gallery presents Tom Peterson‘s Out of Sight, a Color Documentary Photography exhibit from June 2—26, 2011. The Opening Reception is Sat., June 4, from 3—6 p.m. Peterson will be available for a “Meet the Artist” session on Sun., June 19, from 3—4 p.m.

Tom Peterson’s documentary photographs feature urban structures and people that often go unseen. The photographs in this exhibit feature the effects of weather, time, ware and perseverance. Peterson’s images are a continuation of documents from his weekly walking tours. They often provide an abstract view of every day structures we pass by, but rarely notice. Peterson sees his photographs as a bridge for future generations to view our present everyday culture and surroundings. All the photographs are framed, archival inkjet prints.

Gallery 195 show opens Tuesday featuring Dubicki paintings, Peterson photography

Gallery 195
195 Church St., 4th floor (NewAlliance Bank), New Haven, (203) 772-2788
Emilia Dubicki & Tom Peterson
June 7—Aug. 27, 2010.
Opening reception: Tues., June 8, 5—7 p.m.

Press release
The Arts Council of Greater New Haven presents an exhibition of works by Connecticut artists Emilia Dubicki and Tom Peterson at Gallery 195 at NewAlliance Bank, 195 Church St., 4th floor, New Haven. The exhibition will be on display during bank hours from June 7 through August 27, 2010. An artists' reception is scheduled for Tues., June 8, from 5—7 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

This exhibition showcases paintings and photographs by Connecticut artists Emilia Dubicki and Tom Peterson that explore abstraction through the use of color and light.
Emilia Dubicki's work has been exhibited in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Utah, and Japan. Locally, her work has been exhibited at the Player's Lounge Invitational Exhibition at the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven, A-Space at West Cove Studio and Gallery, Kehler Liddell Gallery, Artspace, Artspace's City-Wide Open Studios, Arts & Literature Laboratory, and Visions Toward Wellness Gallery in Stony Creek, among others. Dubicki is represented by the Julie Heller Gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and Kehler Kiddell Gallery in New Haven .


Tom Peterson's photography has been exhibited throughout Connecticut. Selected exhibitions have included The New Haven Seen: Existence, Stagnation, & Morphosis (2005) at the Arts Council of Greater New Haven's Small Space Gallery (now the Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery); The Art of Food: All Consuming (2005), presented by Artspace in partnership with the International Festival of Arts & Ideas; Artspace's City-Wide Open Studios (2006); Cultural Passages 2007 at Creative Arts Workshop; and Images 2008 at the Shoreline Arts Alliance, among others. Most recently, Peterson's work was the focus of Passing By, a solo show at City Gallery in New Haven.


For more information about this exhibition and Gallery 195 at NewAlliance Bank, call the Arts Council at (203) 772-2788.

Photo show opens at City Gallery Saturday

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Passing By; Photographs by Tom Peterson
Jan. 9—31, 2010.
Opening reception: Sat., Jan. 9, 2—5 p.m.

Press release

City Gallery present Tom Peterson's Passing By, a black, white and color photography exhibit from Jan. 7—31. The opening Reception is Sat., Jan. 9 from 2—5 p.m.

Tom Peterson's documentary photographs feature urban cityscapes with an emphasis on architectural structure and strong lighting. The photographs in this exhibit are mostly taken in New Haven and Hartford. Tom's images function as documents from his weekly walking tours and provide an abstract view of everyday structures we often pass by, but rarely notice. Mr. Peterson sees his photographs as a bridge for future generations to view our present everyday culture and surroundings. All the photographs are framed, archival inkjet prints.