A pipe bowl rests atop a men’s suit in place of a head.
The two elements of this collage, a piece of art entitled “Side Effects of Pipe Smoke,” seamlessly blend the images, which were sourced from retro ads in popular magazines.
The collages and sculptures of artist Peter Treiber of Orient, who is exhibiting his first solo show “New Stories Simply Told” at Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. in Greenport, are surreal and satirical. The work also gives a new use and a new story to old materials.
“Everything is two elements put together,” Treiber, 28, said. “I try to find the corresponding piece.”
The sources for the collages are mostly magazine advertisements from the 1940s through 1980s. Treiber’s uncle gifted him the magazines — about 100 vintage issues of Time, Life, Popular Mechanics, Playboy, Sports Illustrated and McCall’s.
Of all the content, he found the ads most compelling and began selecting the ones that spoke to him.
“They’re like little micro-histories,” he said. “They’re very indicative of a time and place in our country.”
Treiber, a Sea Cliff native, didn’t study art in school and instead pursued a history and anthropology degree from the University of South Carolina. He honed his creative skills on the job working under Brooklyn artist Mac Premo.
“It was so important because he threw me into the fire,” Treiber said. “I learned all these new skills that I needed to get these ideas out of my brain and into the world.”
Mr. Premo said he couldn’t be prouder of Mr. Treiber on his first show.
“It represents validation: not that the world loves you; not that you make pretty pictures; but that you have self-initiated the first step toward giving communicable form to a process that nets more questions than it does answers,” Mr. Premo said. “It ain’t the path for everybody. It is for Peter.”
While Treiber makes his art at night, he spends his days tending to his family’s Southold property, Treiber Farms (you probably know it better as the Route 48 farm with the American Flag truck parked in front). The plan is to turn the site into a working operation with an orchard, vegetable fields and a chicken coop.
“The opportunity arose to come work and build something from scratch,” Treiber said. “It’s so brand new, so the sky’s the limit.”
He creates his art both on the family farm and at The Invisible Dog Art Center in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Boerum Hill.
Also on display at Greenport Harbor’s Carpenter Street location are Treiber’s sculptures, which offer playful takes on hunting trophies. For example, one features a tiny metallic deer head attached to a traditional trophy mount. Several others incorporate old wooden handsaw handles fashioned into antlers.
“What’s so refreshing about it is I just wanted to have fun,” Treiber said.
Ann Vandenburgh, co-owner of Greenport Harbor and the tasting room’s gallery coordinator, said she was immediately taken by Treiber’s work.
“The simple, uninterrupted lines of his work are thought-provoking and full of humor,” she said. “It’s a modern take on old images, subtle yet whimsically twisted.”
Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. will host an opening reception for “New Stories Simply Told” at its Greenport location (234 Carpenter St.) Saturday, Nov. 19, from 6 to 9 p.m. The exhibit will be on view through Jan. 31.
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