Peter Drew’s Transformation: From Activist to ‘The Narcissist’

Whenever Peter Drew posts another photo on Instagram, shirtless and flexing, a smirk can’t help but appear on many followers’ faces. For the last six months, the Adelaide-based artist has been teasing his audience with hints about a new project that centers around his newly toned physique. He calls it “The Narcissist”: a self-portrait.

The Project’s Beginnings

In one of his videos, Drew turned his fans’ bewildered comments into lyrics, sung by a gentle female voice accompanied by acoustic guitar: “Does he want art fans to leave?” “You look terrible” “By aspiring to some masculine ideal aren’t you just simply supporting it, not really interrogating the phenomenon or making a statement about it?“

At first glance, Drew has taken a complete 180 from his previous works. For years, he was best known for his activist projects, particularly the Aussie Posters series, where he travelled Australia to affix colorised archival photographs of non-British migrants taken during the White Australia policy, with the word “AUSSIE”. This series challenged the traditional, homogenous vision of Australian identity.

Exploring the Connection Between Activism and Narcissism

Recently, Drew has been contemplating the overlap between activism and narcissism, a theme he explored deeply in his book Poster Boy: A Memoir of Art and Politics.

“Do you think this culture of activism has an element of narcissism?” Drew ponders in an interview with Guardian Australia. “On reflection, what I wanted out of the posters was personal transformation. But I had to hide that as I was doing it.”

Drew views working out as a metaphor for his activism persona. “There’s a generation of people that are marching towards being more political, especially artists. They don’t see the cost of it,” he explains. “You have to become a figurehead of certainty that embodies the audience’s desire. The longer you stay in that persona, the more stuck you become.”

The Dual Lives of The Narcissist

The Narcissist has a dual presence; it thrives online and in the gallery. Drew has been sharing videos of his bodybuilding routine—bulking for months and then cutting calories to uncover a chiseled look. His March exhibition at Peter Walker Fine Art in Adelaide will showcase his project. He will present a 20kg bronze helmet, large-scale photographs of himself adorned with it, and posters depicting himself as the Gaddi Torso, a Hellenistic sculpture from the second century BCE, rendered as ripped as any brobeast today.

Earlier, Drew briefly considered naming his project “Muscle Man,” aiming to critique masculinity. However, an exploration into narcissism perceptually through art took precedence.

“The project deals with the biblical idea of the flesh versus the spirit,” Drew explains. “One must find a balance between individual achievement and collectivist ideals, a spectrum of views that can appear in academia and mainstream culture.”

Influences and Parallels

Drew’s Narcissist project echoes other artists who’ve used their physical transformations as canvases for their work. Internet culture commentator Joshua Citarella embarked on an experiment called Hyper-masculinity in 2021, attempting every internet folklore “male improvement technique.” Transgender artist Cassils gained 23 pounds of muscle in 23 weeks as part of CUTS: A Traditional Sculpture (2011–2013), riffing off Eleanor Antin’s Carving: A Traditional Sculpture (1972).

Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly paintings also provide a historical lineage for Drew’s bronze helmet, which references both the outlaw persona and the criminality of street art.

In the past, Drew faced criticism for his “Aussie” project. Writer Reena Gupta wrote in Overland, questioning whether white Australians have the right to adorn non-white Australians as “Aussies,” a role Drew sought for Monga Khan, a hawker photographed in 1916.

The Artistic Process

Drew admits he has never engaged his audience in this manner before, preferring solitude in his earlier works. However, he finds joy in the debate surrounding his new project.

“I’m digging at that and provoking it,” he states. “That’s what it’s all about with any art, that social dynamic. There’s an in-group and there’s an out-group.”

Drew understands the skepticism his project faces but maintains that self-portraiture inherently reveals aspects of the artist they may not be consciously aware of.