PETER WESTWOOD: Known unknowns and unknown unknowns
01.07.26 - 25.07.26
Known unknowns and unknown unknowns
While the title of this exhibition suggests an assessment of some form, what is clear is that it signals a space where there are aspects of something that are unknown. Here, the terms ‘known’ and ‘unknown’ are borrowed from risk management terminology, where they are used in preparation for unpredictable circumstances that might involve danger or hazards. The need for us as a society to mitigate risk presents as an ever more urgent strategy given the general vibe of our time. Communities and societies increasingly recognise volatility as a key word, whether it relates to the environment, the economy, or various military contexts. Today the word ‘unknown’ seems almost pervasive as a way of appraising the world because many things are presented as questionable, including objective facts and verifiable data. Individually, it’s not uncommon for many of us to consider our lives as forming within an unrestrained, unpredictable collection of possibilities where almost anything might happen.
Peter Westwood’s exhibition parallels some of this uncertainty as he endeavours to convey how the world feels to him. However, there are two factors at play in this work, in that he also recognises that the human condition is marked by its own unsettling awarenesses between our desire for certainty and an acknowledgement of the random and chaotic nature of living, of being human. So, while the current state of the world is a catalyst for the uncertainty expressed in this work, he tries to capture the paradoxical nature of our human condition as one that arguably revolves around constantly navigating ambiguity and incertitude.
This exhibition coalesces into a mercurial atmosphere of changes in mood or direction where each work forms as an instance, much in the way we might think and feel as we experience our lives through a composite of variable moments that might be comprehensible, but to some degree, equally baffling. This is where we shift back and forth in our minds between recognition and cognitive dissonance. Westwood considers his paintings and editioned screenprints as a type of abstraction, subject to multiple interpretations, each of the works revealing broader concepts, devoid of conclusive meanings. This ambiguity allows for different experiences, values, or interpretations to permeate the works. Therefore, when we move through this exhibition, we do so without the aid of narrative, guiding principles or defined connections, arriving at conclusions that are formed in the risky business of feeling, experiencing and handling unknown and abstract encounters.
