PETER AUGUSTUS FINDS HIS GROOVE

From Dallas to New York to Hong Kong then back again, this gallerist and Dallas Art Fair exhibitor is just getting started.

INTERVIEW BY DAVID LIU

Founded by its namesake, Peter Augustus is a contemporary art gallery, now on Monitor Street in the Design District, focused on emerging and mid-career international artists. In addition to his passion for art, Peter Augustus Owen is an avid supporter of human rights issues. For several years he was a co-director and judge of the Hong Kong Human Rights Arts Prize, benefiting the refugee community of Hong Kong. He also served as a Human Rights Commissioner for the City of Palm Springs, California, in 2019.

Since relocating back to the States and opening Peter Augustus, he has hosted several artists’ first solo exhibitions in North America, including the upcoming show for Japanese artist Ryo Nishimura. David Liu (DL): Peter, you opened your eponymous gallery last year. What made you decide to open Peter Augustus, and why Dallas? Peter Augustus (PA): Well, I was born and raised in Dallas. I went to school in New York for a bit, then I moved to Hong Kong, where I finished university. After graduation I worked for an art magazine (ArtAsiaPacific) based in Hong Kong, on the publishing side, although I regularly contributed to the content. I then moved to Tokyo and worked for Perrotin, leading their marketing and PR efforts across Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, and Shanghai. I ended up living in Asia for the majority of my 20s and early 30s. It was an amazing experience, and I learned a lot, but my family is still based here, and I wanted to explore some creative endeavors on my own. DL: I remember when we first met, we quickly realized we had very similar trajectories that brought us full circle. We’re both Dallas natives, graduated high school the same year, and immediately moved to the East Coast before returning home fairly recently. From your experience, how has Dallas changed in the last

two decades? (I still can’t believe it has been that long...) What has surprised you the most since moving back? PA: I know. Has it really been 20 years? Dallas has grown so much over the past two decades in more ways than one. When we both left in the very early 2000s, there was no Dallas Art Fair, and there were only a handful of galleries. The landscape has changed a lot since then, with local institutions like The Warehouse and, to expand the creative map a bit, with 100 West Corsicana. From a commercial perspective, I’m sure you can agree it is great to see how the city has been able to support both the established galleries and several new galleries opening in the last few years. DL: You worked in the art world in Hong Kong and Tokyo for quite a few years. How did your time living in Asia influence your vision for your own program? PA: My gallery program generally focuses on artists from the Asia Pacific region, but this is not exclusive. In my time working in two very different parts of the art industry—journalism and the commercial space—I got to meet and hear from so many talented emerging artists. In opening Peter Augustus, I wanted to give these creatives a platform and a place to showcase their works internationally. I view it as a partnership in helping to curate and translate their vision to a new audience. DL: As many of the artists you have shown live in Asia, I imagine it has been hard not being able to travel due to pandemic restrictions. Are you growing tired of virtual studio visits? PA: I loathe virtual meetings. Nothing beats a face-to-face meeting and feeling the excitement of an artist’s studio. I do have a trip to Japan on hold for later this year in hopes that the travel restrictions are lifted! But out of necessity during the past couple of years, I’ve relied on WhatsApp for communication and virtual studio visits. It’s encrypted for document sending, and I prefer short and sweet messages over long formal emails. It’s great to be able to bounce one-off ideas back and forth. DL: Can you tell me a little bit about Ryo Nishimura, the next artist you will be exhibiting at the gallery in September? PA: Ryo is an amazing young Japanese artist whose work I actually collected prior to opening my gallery. He is primarily a printmaker, specializing in drypoint etching, but he is taking this traditional Japanese printing technique to a different level by modernizing the process. A lot of his work centers on live scenes from nature, often clouds, water, or flora. While drypoint is normally done on copper plates, Ryo takes framed sheets of thick plexiglass out to fields or lakes and traces the detail with power tools and other traditional objects. After applying ink and running it through a copper press, the result is a large-format monoprint on paper with the most intricate and velvety texture I have ever seen. His work has also been collected by LACMA and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. DL: Ryo will actually be in Dallas for the show, right? PA: Yes, Ryo will be in town for a few weeks this summer in the leadup to his opening. We are working with TCU, and he will be doing a lecture and demonstration of his printing methods at the university for their printmaking students as well as making art there. They have a stellar printing facility. I am excited that a majority of the work being exhibited will be made right here in North Texas. DL: Since opening the gallery in 2021, you have already participated in three art fairs, put on seven exhibitions, and moved to a new space in the Design District. So much has happened in such a short period of time! What’s next for Peter Augustus? PA: It has been a full-on first year and a half for sure. As for what’s next, I am looking forward to focusing a bit more on digital aspects of the gallery, including the online store, which I launched over the summer, and engaging with the community via events and inperson artist talks now that travel is normalizing. P