Artist and his goals

His mother painted with him as a child more often than sung. Certainly, this already aroused his enthusiasm for painting.
Later, as an adult, he spent some time in the administration of Werkkunstschule Berlin, surrounded by art and artists, which inspired him to work artistically himself. This is how painting became his hobby.

Since 1977 he has been in contact with non-European countries - both in Asia and especially in Africa. During his foreign assignments as a development expert in Nepal, Zambia and Lesotho, as well as on his travels to various other African countries, he learned other ways of thinking and living, other beliefs and values, even a different logic. His friendly and family ties played a reinforcing role. He questioned his own standards, his own view of the world, which changed his own way of life, and his view of himself, his surroundings, but also the stranger in general. This also gave rise to an inner urge to express his many thoughts, feelings and experiences in a suitable way and to communicate them to other people. His best option was painting.

While initially rather abstract-graphically composed images Peter Gustavus' work determined, since the 1980s, clearly African influences have become clear. His African inspirations are reflected in the colors, the style and the themes
At the center of his pictures are the relationships between people, including their ancestors and the African spirits. Sometimes Gustavus addresses his own efforts to look at things the way a black person perceives them. He experiences the theme of minorities and minorities on a daily basis, because the majority of his family is always in the minority, whether in a European or African society ,

Peter Gustavus often wants to achieve two diametrically opposed goals with his pictures:
1. He wants to stimulate the imagination of the viewer, to encourage them to interpret his pictures individually. He offers them to enter into a mental or emotional dialogue with his pictures, to embark on a journey of thought or feeling, into another world and time. In addition to his own interpretation of the viewer is equal.
2. With other pictures, however, he wants to convey a (mostly political) message. This should be understood and must be explained verbally if necessary. While he prefers to introduce socio-critical topics to the African public, he intends to reminisce in Germany and Europe the image of the three big "K's" - wars, catastrophes and diseases - that is widespread in Germany, because wisdom and knowledge, beauty and beauty the tolerance of the people, the mythology and the history of Africa, but also the natural wonders of this continent, give rise to a different picture of Africa, which is at least as good as being presented.

His current work is often a mixture of his surreal African-European thoughts and feelings as well as the reflection of real experiences.