Geraldo Perez “Paintings”

Blue Mountain Gallery

[Image: Geraldo Perez "Band Member 2" acrylic on canvas 10x8 in.]

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Geraldo Perez is an American artist born in the Dominican Republic whose work arises out of his experiences of a vibrant New York City. Perez came to the city when he was 6 years old and lived in Hells Kitchen on West 45th, which he describes as very animated and colorful, with characters larger than life. Perez recalls Hells Kitchen as a carnival of comedy and tragedy. He was impressed by the Broadway shows and the drama of real life happening daily. He used to think that “everybody comes here, and they bring with them a piece of where they came from.”

One day when he was walking in Times Square, which he did almost daily to travel to parts of the city, he saw Alex Katz’s billboards on West 42nd Street. Those paintings made a huge impression on him. He describes having an epiphany because of how they were painted and he felt that they stood out among advertisements and signs pointing to businesses. Together with the lights, Katz’s colors and figures seemed to interplay with the noise and the people speaking and wearing different languages and attitudes. All appeared as a beautiful performance.

Through his art Perez explores the realities of life and the human condition in relation to itself. His explorations deal with the capabilities of paint and surfaces, the “dance” of color and rhythm. His quest to organize through the application of paint is an exploration that tasks viewers to relate the images to their own lives as well as the collective experience.