Peter Tunney

Peter Tunney (born 1961) is an American visual artist, publisher, art dealer, socialite and former Wall Street executive. He currently lives and works between New York City and Miami, Florida.

Biography

Tunney first made his fortune investing in biotechnology stocks on Wall Street. He then went onto found for the now closed SoHo gallery "The time is Always Now" where for nine years he showed a vast collection of work by the famed wildlife and fashion photographer Peter Beard, some of which was created on site. In 1994 Tunney was featured on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, as profiled by Robin Leach, and mentioned as one of the worlds most eligible bachelors.

Later Beard and Tunney had a dramatic falling out. A tumultuous period followed leading to Tunney's living in the nightclub Crobar while doing a performance piece and eventually to rehab.

Today Tunney is a visual artist who works in the genre of neo-pop and whose work has been compared to that of Mel Bochner and Christopher Wool. Tunney is also known for his "Tunney Money" a system of art given in place of cash relinquished. One of his more high profile works so far was a billboard he did in the New York City borough of the Bronx alongside the Major Deegan Expressway which spelled out "GRATTITUDE" (in all capital letters with an extra T added on for emphasis) a word which Tunney has articulated frequently in his visual works.. Tunney is also known for his surfboards which he turns into artworks often with his sayings such as "City of Dreams" or the aforementioned "GRATTITUDE" embellished onto them rendering the pieces of sports equipment works of art. In 2009 Tunney was commissioned by now Senior advisor to the President of the United States Jared Kushner (for whom Tunney had previously created a stencil overlay taken from his work "Don't Panic" for Kushner's newspaper The New York Observer) to establish an immersive work called "The Experiment" in the lobby of Kushner's fifth avenue sky scraper 666 Fifth Avenue.

In the Wynwood section of Miami he opened a gallery dedicated to his work called the "Peter Tunney Experience". The kickoff of the 2017-18 NFL season at Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins in Miami Gardens, Florida, brought With It the inveiling of a large scale multiple mural project mostly of bright colorful abstract works some with a tip of the hat to Football, a project which arose out of a dialogue between Tunney, Jessica Goldman Srebnick (CEO of Goldman Global Arts and daughter of the late famed real estate developer, preservationist and arts visionary Tony Goldman) and the Dolphins. Among the artists whose efforts are included in the body of work are; Assume Vivid Astro Focus, Vhils, Crash, MOMO, Logan Hicks, Jen Stark, Dasic Fernández, 1010, How & Nosm and AVAF.

In 2013 Tunney gave a TEDx talk, explaining the importance of praise and 'thank you', which is emphasised in his text-based works with the slogan Grattitude.

To mark the 2017 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach Tunney salvaged items (including a giant 30,000 piece chandelier, two-ton elephants, casino carpeting and signs) from Donald Trump's now defunct casino Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Relics from the casino were immersed in the sand of Faena to create a site-specific installation called "Sinking of the Taj Mahal". The items Tunney recovered from the casino were also installed in his Wynwood gallery to create an exhibition called "Excerpts From The Taj Mahal (The Truth Always Happens)". In the midst of creating the show Tunney was quoted saying "I love turning trash into treasure", while the work probes questions on American excess and greed. During Art Basel Miami Beach 2017, Tunney’s Wynwood gallery attracted crowds of people including celebrities such as the actor Gerald Butler who was later seen riding around Miami with Peter in his Lady Bug golf cart.

Art market

In April of 2005 Tunney's work "Americans (CTF)" (oil on vintage rubber mat) was sold at auction by Christie's for EUR 7800 against an estimate 7,000 - 9,000 EUR. On March 8, 2013 a record was set for the artist's work at auction when "WTF (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot)" 2013 acrylic and collage on canvas 60 1/8 x 71 7/8 in. (152.7 x 182.6 cm) sold for $37,500 against a pre-sale estimate of $20,000 - $30,000 at Phillips auction house in New York City.

  • The artist's website - 1