“I Give My Eyes...” is both spiritual autobiography and a story of healing and salvation. Author, artist, and museum curator Brian H. Peterson looks back on a creative life and reflects on his own search for the deeper layers, the “substrata.”
In luminous, poetic prose, he ties together private and public, inward and outward journeys, struggling with the realities of advancing Parkinson’s disease while discovering an affirmation of belief that embraces suffering and doubt. “Somewhere there, in the middle, in the air between us, a door opens and a breath, a zephyr of love flows through. Invisible, fleeting, but is there anything more real? Anything more, somehow, permanent?”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brian H. Peterson has more than forty years’ experience as a curator, critic, visual artist, musician, and arts administrator. His photographs are in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Amon Carter Museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Denver Art Museum, among others. As the Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest Chief Curator at the Michener Art Museum (1990–2013), he managed the exhibition program, curated historic and contemporary exhibitions, and was the editor and principal author of the landmark publication Pennsylvania Impressionism (2002).
The author of two prior collections of essays—The Smile at the Heart of Things (2009) and The Blossoming of the World (2011)—Peterson has contributed critical writing to the Los
Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, American Arts Quarterly, and the Photo Review. In retirement he has taken up videography while continuing his work as a writer and photographer. His 1981 song cycle “Moon Songs,” based on the poetry of E. E. Cummings, was featured on the CD Modern American Art Song (2015) with mezzo-soprano Sharon Mabry.
Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, American Arts Quarterly, and the Photo Review. In retirement he has taken up videography while continuing his work as a writer and photographer. His 1981 song cycle “Moon Songs,” based on the poetry of E. E. Cummings, was featured on the CD Modern American Art Song (2015) with mezzo-soprano Sharon Mabry.
The book is part art book—filled with Brian's gorgeous photographs—and part the meditative reflection of a lifetime author and photographer trying to come to terms with his Parkinson's disease diagnosis, making it a perfect fit for Parkinson's Awareness Month in April.
In an interview, Brian will speak about:
- Processing a life-altering diagnosis such as Parkinson's disease for Parkinson's Awareness Month
- How your life changes after a Parkinson's diagnosis and finding a way to continue living to the fullest
- Writing to share the experience of Parkinson's disease as a form of self-reflection
- How photography enhances the meditative pieces in
"I Give My Eyes..." - Museum curation and the creative side of planning museum exhibits
- Art and creativity as a lifestyle choice
Brian has more than forty years’ experience as a curator, critic, visual artist, musician, and arts administrator. His photographs are in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Amon Carter Museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Denver Art Museum, among others. The author of two prior collections of essays—The Smile at the Heart of Things (2009) and The Blossoming of the World (2011)—Brian has contributed critical writing to the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, American Arts Quarterly, and the Photo Review
Praise for Brian's Previous Titles:
“Peterson reflects on art and artists, on creativity and where it comes from, and along the way he bares his soul.” —Craig Wilson, USA Today
“His wise and wonderful expressions of sharp creative intellect make a reader appreciate the necessity, even the urgency, of the artist’s labor.” —Edward J. Sozanski, The Philadelphia Inquirer
