Newzones Gallery is pleased to present Trees in the Field, a solo exhibition of new work by Canadian contemporary painter Peter Hoffer.

“I came out taller than the trees” — Henry David Thoreau

In the open fields of L’Isle aux Grues—an isolated island in Eastern Quebec—I found myself returning to the same presence again and again: the solitary tree. Rare and exposed, each stood like a quiet figure in the landscape, weathered by wind, shaped by space, and entirely itself. This body of work is a meditation on those trees—painted in stillness, often centred in the composition, surrounded by sky and field. They are not merely subjects of observation, but presences I encountered. To me, they hold a kind of personhood: rooted yet vulnerable, silent yet expressive. Their stance suggests resilience, courage, and an acceptance of solitude. In these works, I explore the emotional resonance between figure and landscape, strength and stillness. Each tree becomes a portrait of perseverance—bearing the weight of open space, and standing in quiet dialogue with the horizon. Like Thoreau, I believe time spent with such trees changes us. It reminds us that solitude can be sustaining, and that there is quiet power in simply standing where we are. This exhibition is both a landscape and a gathering of figures—trees as witnesses, as companions, as metaphors. Their silence speaks. I’ve tried to listen.

Peter Hoffer is known for his textural landscape paintings. Trained in both sculpture and painting, Hoffer’s attention to materiality is always evident in his work. He paints directly on wood panel and often leaves part of the surface visible. Each painting is finished with a highly reflective clear resin, with intentional inconsistencies such as scratches, sporadic markings and ripples. For Hoffer, this sets up a necessary balance between the naturalness of the painted and organic landscape, and the artificial sense of the precious “objet d’art”.  A contrast emphasized between the controlled hand of the artist and the force of the material.

Peter Hoffer has a Masters of Fine Arts from Concordia University in Montréal, Québec. Hoffer’s paintings can be found in several prominent public, private, and corporate collections, including Cirque de Soleil, Musee des Beaux-Arts, Montreal, Royal Bank of Canada, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery and ING New York, New York, Rodin Law Firm Litigation Counsel, Calgary, AB, to name a few.

https://newzones.com/blog/2024/12/13/peter-hoffer-trees-in-the-field-2025/