It’s clear why Renata Petersen’s punk pottery appeals to CelineHedi Slimane, purist creative director of rock. She elegantly infuses her ceramic vases with gnarled comic book characters, dripping blood fonts, gruesome tabloid tales and other fabulously unseemly fodder. One can imagine the ghost of a disgruntled teenage punk rocker guiding his hands over the potter’s wheel like the mind locked in limbo of Patrick Swayze. Ghost.
The Guadalajara, Mexico-based artist collaborated on select pieces for the Summer 23 men’s show which explored rock tropes ranging from glam to post-punk. In an apparent nod more to the pioneering Gothic group than to the German design and architecture movement, the collection has been dubbed “Dysfunctional Bauhaus”.
Renata Petersen’s comedic gothic script can be found in select items from Celine’s Summer 2023 menswear collection. Courtesy of Celine.
The slogan and typeface of “Dysfunctional Bauhaus” actually comes from one of petersonThe ceramic plates of (other items in his NSFW dinnerware set are adorned with “cocaine” and the intense face of Charles Manson). Slimane riffed on a variety of past Petersen artwork and translated it into fashion.
The result, which includes t-shirts, hoodies and a skateboard deck, is now on sale online and in luxury brand stores. The 29-year-old multimedia artist watched the parade online and was deservedly jazzed.
Renata’s Petersen vases can easily be misinterpreted as punk rock urns. Courtesy of the artist.
“There are artists that you feel in their work that it’s really trendy and you just know that they’re going to collaborate with a fashion brand,” says Petersen. “I Never thought of my work like that. It felt good to know that I was reaching an audience that would never have seen my work.
Yes, Petersen’s work appeals to the demographic of vinyl addicts who dig The Cramps and The Misfits, but his repertoire is broader. She thrives on dichotomy. His scope was on full display in his 2022 solo exhibition”Teopolis” at Pequod Co. in Guadalajara.
Renata Peterson,
Jim Jones, ceramic vase (2022). Courtesy of the artist.
Counterbalancing the graphic-heavy vases and platters is a selection of pale jade-colored ceramic sculptures that are less bombastic, but all the more compelling.
“I love that it looks like another person made them,” Petersen says. “These are the two parts of my imagination.” There are similar dark themes in ships though. The more “mature” direction evokes the Zen calm of a utopian city, and it is in a sense. Each room mimics a house of worship for a variety of worship. “I call them the ‘new religions’,” Petersen interjects. “I don’t want to use the word ‘cult’. It’s very harsh.”
A Renata Petersen haute couture skateboard. Courtesy of Celine.
Petersen adds, “I love people who say they have a direct line to God or they’ve found the new Messiah!” The temples she renders date from the early 1900s to the present day. “The ones you see that look like they’re from Thailand, they’re actually from Brazil,” she says excitedly. “It’s the Vale do Amanhecer sect, and it’s kind of a Disneyland of different religions that mixes Hinduism, shamanism and a lot of different things. They wear capes and eat a lot of lentils.
She adds, “Many religions look the same, but the architecture differs. The end result looks really kitsch. The cobalt blue and amber metropolises Petersen created in 2021 are actually “cities made of unusable blown glass dildos and plugs,” she says.
A detail of the ceramic metropolis of Renata Petersen’s cult temples. Courtesy of the artist.
Petersen’s rebellious pagan element stems from a genuine interest in religion rather than the macabre, seeking surface shock value. It’s in his blood. “Let me tell you the story of my life and why I’m interested in it,” she says. “I am the daughter of an anthropologist and a journalist. My mom was working on her first book when she had me in 1993.”
His subject was controversy La Luz del Mundo sect. “She started doing her fieldwork when she was pregnant with me,” Petersen explains, “and when I was born she took me to this town inside a town where they lived. had to move because they started threatening her and were quite dangerous. Petersen’s mother, Renée de la Torre, PhD, is a research professor and has a wide range of published work. Both mother and daughter major in the exploration of religion, but they use divergent mediums.
Renata Petersen’s cobalt and amber personal pleasure objects are paired with ceramic dishes in her 2021 “Bocchinara” exhibition. Courtesy of the artist.
Petersen says she is now experimenting with making creepy, modern dollhouses. In June, she has a duo exhibition with Martin Soto Climent at the Lighthaus in Zurich called “La noche Bolaña”, followed by a stand in the next Armory show in September.
Petersen finds Mexico a permanent source of inspiration. “It’s a very religious place,” she says. “We have a mixture of shamanism and Catholicism. It’s very obtuse.
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