AJ Peterson is one of the most prolific creatives in the entire Tampa Bay Scene. From his art work, to his music solo and with the band Open Culture, to his video & clothing work with Goodjobadult, and creative director work for Darkaire management, AJ pretty much does it all. For this feature I wanted to show some love to his art work he has for sale on his DEPOP site.
I really dig the abstract approach used in AJ’s work. Usually their is some sort of monstrous figure or figures present in each piece, almost a reflection of the society we live in. The city mentioned in the title is featured behind the figure with “Not Your City” featured above. “Eat Your Problems” can have many meanings but I’ll leave that up to the viewer.
This untitled peace reminds me of the lizard people they say hollowed out the moon to take over the earth. This could also be referenced in the small stock figures featured below the grinning monster.
The greven figure wearing shoes in this piece called “Leader” remind me of the taking couch from “Pee Wee’s Playhouse” but with shoes on. The figure appears to be at some abstract lemonade stand offering “Fresh Squeezed Citrus”. I dig the almost patchwork approach to the piece.
“Common Goal” is one of my favorite pieces from AJ. I really dig the black, red, and yellow color scheme. The money bag represents the common goal we all have and the power of a dollar. The figure comes off as a bang robber to me, flaunting his bag of money.
The weird sound frequencies surrounding the piece I feel represent the alarm factor referenced in the title. Notice the arrows pointing down next to “rate” and the arrows pointing up on the right side of the piece. In the shoe holding the head of the figure it appears a different scene is going on. Champagne bottles make a couple appearances in this piece.
This piece “Blast Off” features arrows as well which are becoming a recurring theme of AJ’s work. The figure shown in the middle of the piece has similar characteristics to the one featured in “Common Goal”, both have their eyes on the dollar signs.
If any of these pieces catch your fancy hit the homie up or pick one up from his DEPOP site trashbagboy.