(Announcement from the Paradise Garden Foundation):
Paradise Garden Foundation is pleased to host a stunning art exhibit, Before and After Paradise: The Art of Peter Loose, on view in the Museum and Visitor Center at Howard Finster’s Paradise Garden, 200 North Lewis Street in Summerville, through October 30th, 2023.
Peter Loose enjoyed a personal friendship with Rev. Howard Finster and is a long-time participant in the Foundation’s annual art festival, Finster Fest.
In his exhibit artist statement, Loose describes the Finster influence, “I was blessed to call Howard a friend and mentor. Before I met him, I was making art but after I met him, I found confidence.” The paintings in the exhibit, Loose explains, “represent my fascination with the wild things that make the Garden their home.” The namesake painting, “Before and After Paradise,” illustrates the wildlife Loose dreamt about living in the Garden in the years before Finster refashioned what was once swampland to the historic 4-acre art environment it is today. In another painting titled “They Gather Around Him,” a large white crane stands in the center of a circle of smaller blackbirds (pictured). Loose explains that the white bird represents Finster, and how he inspired visitors to flock around him while he painted and preached.
Visitors can get a sense of Finster’s influence on Loose by viewing Howard Finster Before He Painted: Wood Creations from the 50s to 70s, the exhibit directly across from Before and After Paradise. The two exhibits clearly illustrate how the two artists share the love of repetitious mark-making and the use of wood for creative cutouts and features.
Before and After Paradise: The Art of Peter Loose will be on view during Paradise Garden’s regular operating hours, 11 am-5 pm Tuesdays through Sundays. For questions about the exhibit, please call 706-808-0800 or email info@paradisegardenfoundation.org.
