Peterson Guerrier
by Jonathan Yubi
I migrated to Orlando in the fall of 2013 . I spent the first six months hidden away in Avalon Park , deep in East Orlando . Yet , even from my wasteland fortress , I heard the name B-Side . It struck me with a passion , and I knew there was nothing that could keep me from befriending what I considered to be some of Orlando ’ s art legends . One of the last – yet most memorable – artists I encountered from the B-Side collective , was Peterson Guerrier . I immediately realized he was the quintessential artist . He created deep and meaningful work , dressed with an elegance and sophistication I would see in movies about Bohemian artists , and was always surrounded by beautiful people .
So , where were you born , man ? Miami , Florida . Originally from Haiti , but my family migrated to Canada . There ’ s a lot of French Canadian . My grandma was French-Canadian , and my granddad was Haitian . My mom was born in Haiti , and my dad was born in … Canada . I ’ m bad at that , I ’ m bad at memory stuff . I grew up in Miami . Had a fun childhood there . Everything was in Miami .
Man . Kids are jackasses , myself included . Were you a terrible child ? I was a horrible child . Most people see me now and they say you don ’ t look … but I used to skip a lot , fight a lot . I was the skinniest one in my group , so I always felt like I had to prove myself , which is a trait that still kinda lingers . As a kid , the minute something happened , I jumped in . I still feel like I have to prove myself sometimes . Over time that changed , I realized there was more to life than fights . I wanted to do good in school for the sake of my mom , because I really respect her .
After exhibiting in a group show alongside Peterson last month , I decide to check in on him and hear his insight on the B-Siders . I arrive in the early evening during one of Florida ’ s sudden summer showers . After a brief greeting and tour of his space , we make our way upstairs to his studio . Peterson has a large collection of books and art magazines . We reflect on the short journey of Artborne Magazine . There ’ s hope in his voice , and quite frankly , I ’ m relieved . With the sound of rain pattering the roof ’ s shingles above , we settle in for the interview .
We ’ re with Peterson right now , and I need to find somewhere to put the recorder .
It was the typical , “ art saved my life ”. But other than that , every summer , I ’ d be fixing bikes . My house was the bike shop in the neighborhood . We ’ d fix bikes , then terrorize the neighborhood after that . There was this lady that had five dogs , and we ’ d ride in circles around her house
left : Lost in the Echoe , acrylic on canvas below : Sabali , acrylic on canvas to aggravate the dogs . Growing up , I played a lot of sports too . There was a church a block away from us . The gate was always closed . So what would we do ? Every afternoon around four we would jump the gate and play basketball until one of the fathers or the nuns would come out and scream at us . And that was every afternoon . When we finally got tired of them screaming at us , we would jump the fence and leave . We also started maybe vandalizing the church a little bit . I don ’ t know if I should admit that .
Peterson struggles with a slew of old gallon paint buckets , they begin tumbling around the floor .
Peterson ’ s struggling with a couple cans of paint at the moment , I ’ m a bit scared for my life . You scared for your life ? Don ’ t be scared for your life .
Orlando ’ s Art Scene
You hear that Father ? His name is Peterson , you can press charges ! Peterson . I used to vandalize your church .
Are you religious ? Did you spend a lot of time in a church growing up ? I did . My family is very religious . I spent a lot of time , well besides getting in trouble , in church . My family is Seventh Day Adventist . Basically , couldn ’ t do nothing . No jewelry , no tattoos , no nothing . We observed the Sabbath , and every Friday night , sundown , it was no T . V ., no telephone , no games , no computer . Nothing . I would sit in my room and read a book or go to sleep . My family is really religious . I ’ m not . I ’ m spiritual , but not religious .
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