CANDY COUNTS Popsicle to Ice Creams: The Lure of Peter Anton's Sweets by Gerhard Charles Rump Att Critic, Welt ‘They are larger than life, and, as size matters in aesthetics, their appeal is also larger than life. ‘The ethologist would be inclined to speak about aver-oplimized triggers, the public is overwhelmed by art. Peter Anton's relief sculptures of all sorts of sweets and candies never fail to impress. They are realistic enough to whet one's appetite, and they are removed far enough from the real thing to be appreciated as aesthetic objects. Colourful they are, too. Lively colours are, anthropologically speaking, highly conspicuous. Most of us are infallibly attracted to colourful objects, and colours do appeal to us, and, if they come in combination with surface shine, and richness of material texture, we can hardly resist. We are not meant to resist, even. ‘The past experience with colourful objects, on an anthropological scale, is a varied one. Some of our ancestors, attracted by colourful berries, consequently fell il or even died. But through the unique structure of learning and tradition, we know by now. that beauty can also be dangerous, Still we fall for it every time, because there is a promise of sweat deliciousness. And this is ‘important in our lives. If such colourful objects take, in art, the form of sweets, we can say: Candy counts. Because itis not only candy that we like, but art also matters very much. And important subjects presented in an important medium matter even more. And, as they are enlarged, the XXXL-works of Peter Anton of sweets and liquorice and, chocolate candy and popsicles and ice creams carry an even stronger promise. Thay are seductive reliefs, they play with the theme of seduction as such, but they also are a mademn form of sil fe. Like those paintings of Dutch masters of the 17 th Century, which constitute so tentative images of foodstuffs. These historical still lives are, more often than not, idealisations, wishful thinking. This is shown by the fact that there are foods on the plates which couldn't be present at the same time in those days, because they had different seasons. The same is also true for the stil ives with flowers. And many of the stil lives also served a moral purpose, too. Little snails and insects showed the viewer that all things must pass. You won't find snails and insects in Peter Anton's reliefs. His works aren't meant to be modern ‘moral subjects. Which means, again, that they are about seduction, showing us, how easy itis to seduce us, because, given the right enticement, we follow the call so willingly. But some of Anton's works show signs of consumption: Of ice creams, for instance, bits have been bitlen off This is a sign of human presence, the human consumer taking the part of the Old Masters’ snails. And it also shows that eating candy is an all too short, a fleeting moment of joy Peter ‘Anton tries to capture and hold for etemity. And that has always been a function of at, too.