I grew up around Mid-Century culture way before it was hipster cool.  No, I’m not old enough to have experienced it first hand!  But my dad did and we were heavily involved in a 1950s classic car club, one that celebrated mod style by restoring vintage cars, showing them off and even putting on the occasional sock-hop.  Needless to say, when I spotted the California pop-tastic abstract work of New York artist Gary Petersen, it reminded me of the innovation and fantastic design that came from the atomic age.

Petersen uses overlapping and intersecting lines to create forms that play with our sense of perspective and place.

While perhaps the shapes may seem random, they create a palpable sense of movement across the canvas and even between each other.  To see what I mean, try scrolling through down & up the post kind of quickly.  The shapes seem to move, don’t they?  Totally groovy.

To see more of Gary Petersen’s work, please check out his website.

All images are via the artist’s website.