Seventy-nine years old and overlooked since the 1970s, abstract painter Peter Bradley reflects on life and shares his artistic process on the cusp of his rediscovery. After dropping out of high school, Peter Bradley spent some of his formative years in Detroit where he attended the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts, now the College for Creative Studies. It was at museums like the Detroit Institute of Arts where he began learning about abstract painting. A barrier breaking abstract artist, Bradley built an incredible resume early in his career, despite systemic racism in the art world. Bradley fell on hard times in the 1980s. When filmmaker Alex Rappoport met Bradley in 2020, he hadn’t sold many paintings or had a major show in over four decades – yet he still painted every day in a shipping-container studio heated by a wood stove, no matter the weather. “With Peter Bradley” is a celebration of art-making, resilience and the creative contributions of Black artists to American life. It focuses a long-overdue lens on Bradley and shines a light on his rightful place in the ongoing movement toward racial equity in the arts and our society. Michigan premiere.

AFTER THE FILM: Georgea Kovanis, a Free Press staff writer, talks with director Alex Rappoport.