Renata Peterson. The subjectivity of bad taste
In the form of cartoons (with a close relationship with comics and cartoons) Renata Petersen produces pieces whose inspiration is any topic that has cultural relevance: sects, urban legends, gender roles, contemporary sexuality and implicit subjectivity in “bad taste”.
His work uses black humor to address religious and social issues through techniques such as ceramics and blown glass.achieving a juxtaposition of contradictions: the conservative of his traditional methods with the progressive of his avant-garde vision.
He has a special interest in intertwining referential references to works by artists such as Mike Kelley, Sarah Lucas, Raymond Pettibon or Kim Gordon.
Ceramic as art or in art?
Ceramic in art. I’m interested in how the Greeks used it; They were the first to tell stories or myths through drawings on the vessels. What I do has to do with this long history of ceramics.
Where does your interest in ceramics come from?
From art school. I studied Plastic and Visual Arts, and when I had to choose a specialty, I didn’t feel an affinity for many workshops. I stayed in the drawing school with José Luis Sánchez Rull, and I had a ceramics course. That’s when I realized that you need other colleagues to carry out a project, since two people are required to take care of the oven during burning. So, I liked finding that ceramics was a collaborative practice, so the last two years of my career I gave myself completely to this discipline.
Have you always been political and humorous in your art?
Yes, I like working with religious movements or sects, and telling their stories through vases. It is a way of leaving a testimony, because ceramics is a material that, as long as it is preserved, lasts as long as we have seen Chinese and Greek vessels last.
How did you collaborate with José Suro?
I met him many years ago; Honestly, working at Cerámica Suro is magical. It is a kind of artistic embassy to which many artists who want to do something come, and together with José Noé they manage to materialize these ideas. There I have met people from all over the world who did not make ceramics, but who met José and acquired this vision that anything is possible.
Which artist do you admire the most?
I am interested in many artists that I am constantly quoting in my work. I usually refer to others, incorporating traditional techniques from Guadalajara, such as ceramics and blown glass. The ones I wink at the most in my work are: Mike Kelley, Sarah Lucas, Kim Gordon and Pettibon, among others.
What do you consider to be “bad taste”?
For me, it is everything that does not fall into the category of high art, or that at some point has been considered kitsch. It is everything that did not go down in the history of art, neither through institutions, nor museums, nor books. I wanted to rescue “bad taste” because I am interested in this other facet of art that is usually abandoned. _
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