dublab’s Alejandro Cohen and Mark “Frosty” McNeill collaborated with curator Laura Mart to create a custom soundtrack for the exhibition Peter Krasnow: Breathing Joy and Light, on view now at the Skirball Cultural Center. Highlighting the museum’s extensive collection of Krasnow’s work, the show focuses on paintings from the last half century of the artist’s life. Krasnow spent more than fifty years living and working in Atwater Village, a verdant enclave tucked alongside the Los Angeles River. In this setting, a world away from his Ukrainian birthplace, Krasnow painted bold, colorful works reflecting his mystic leanings and deep love of nature. These transcendent, organic forms also acted as a form of spiritual practice and psychic healing in the wake of World War II’s atrocities. Krasnow considered the act of painting analogous to that of musical composition and his work sings with the harmonies of his spirited intention. 

dublab’s soundtrack weaves various threads of Peter Krasnow’s character and sources of artistic inspiration into an audible exhibition accompaniment. By pointing to the multilayered references that coexist in his paintings, this musical collage aims to prompt a deeper engagement with Krasnow’s artwork. Within this audio offering, Krasnow’s interest in Jewish mysticism mingles with music evoking the lush landscape of his beloved garden, recitations of sacred Hebrew texts are intertwined with Jewish Ukrainian folk songs, and transcendent tonal compositions flow alongside nature sounds. These sonic contours trace Krasnow’s own spirited artistic expressions. By channeling the brilliant and bold experimentation of the artist’s midcentury Southern California environment, dublab’s exhibition soundtrack transmits an optimistic charge complimentary to the paintings on view in Peter Krasnow: Breathing Joy and Light.