“A Self-Portrait,” an exhibition of paintings by Lamar Peterson, is at Fredericks & Freiser gallery for just a few more days, through April 8. Peterson intends the works to serve, in aggregate, as a metaphor for contemporary black male identity. He’s credited his predilection for bright landscapes to none other than PBS’s Bob Ross: “When I was a kid, I used to paint along with him, and he always painted a mountain scene. I imagine that as being the perfect scene … that most people can relate to. In a sense, people see that mountain scene as being an ideal kind of thing, so I keep coming up with images like that.” 

Lamar Peterson, The Conversation, 2016, oil on canvas, 77″ x 72″.

A Young Man with a Fish, 2016, oil on canvas, 57″ x 82 1/4″.

Tilt, 2016, oil on canvas, 82″ x 57 1/4″.

Stung, 2016, oil on canvas, wood frame with vase, and plastic flowers 26 1/2″ x 28″.