Enoc Pérez
San Juan, PR, 1967
Biography Details
Painter and draftsman. Pérez earned his bachelor’s degree from the Pratt Institute in New York in 1990 and went on to pursue a master’s degree at Hunter College, from which he graduated in 1992. He lives in New York, and has had countless solo and group exhibitions in Puerto Rico, the United States, and Europe, such as his one-man show in 2006 at the Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery in New York. The exhibit, titled New York, presented images of emblematic New York buildings such as the United Nations building and the TWA terminal at Kennedy Airport. In earlier work, he had exhibited images of buildings he had visited during his personal travels, such as hotels, sometimes somewhat run-down, as a symbol of nostalgia. His work has captured the attention of local and international curators and collectors for its parallels to the technique of the monotype-print and its use of photography as a point of departure for commenting on the predominance of technology in the world and in contemporary art.
Artist Statement
My method came out of a preoccupation with creating paintings that would make sense historically (at least in my mind) with New York painting. When I started to paint in New York, and still today, I felt that Andy Warhol's paintings were important to artists in New York. So I thought that if I somehow used printmaking in my process, I could have some sort of relationship with history. Then I started to make these drawings and would transfer them to canvas by adding oil paint on the back and then redrawing them on to the canvas, kind of like carbon paper—a printmaking process that I still use today. One of the interesting things about the method is that when layered enough, it produces a sense of decay, like real life. In a way, it contradicts the sense of optimism that the buildings embody. Or my own sense of optimism, even. Maybe making paintings today comes through as an act of optimism since painting has been declared dead almost every year for decades. And that desire to move forward with it may parallel the aspirations of this type of architecture.
Source: Byrnes, Mark. Enoc Perez: The Andy Warhol of Architecture, Dwell, January 16, 2013
Formation
Education
1992
- Master of Fine Arts. Hunter College, New York, United States
1990
- Bachelor of Fine Arts. Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, United States
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
2013
- The Good Days, Acquavella Galleries, New York, United States
- Paris Mon Amour, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris, France
2012
- Utopia, Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington DC, United States
2011
- Works on paper, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Brussels, Belgium
- Nudes, Faggionato Fine Arts, London, England
2010
- Acquavella Galleries, New York, United States
- Monochromes, Galerie Michael Janssen, Berln, Germany
2009
- Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, United States
2008
- Tender, Galerie Michael Janssen, Berlín, Germany
- Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy
- Suite 720, Faggionato Fine Arts, London, England
2007
- Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, Miami, Florida, United States
- Lever House Lobby Gallery, New York, United States
- Faraway, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris, France
2006
- New York, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, United States
- Works on Paper, Faggionato, New York, United States
- The United Nations, New York, Mario Diacono at ARS LIBRI, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
2005
- Deluxe, Faggionato, London, England
2004
- Caribe Club, The Happy Lion, Los Angeles, California, United States
- The Party, Sammlung Sander, Berlin, Germany
- Works on Paper, Elizabeth Dee, New York, United States
2003
- Monuments, Elizabeth Dee, New York, United States
2002
- Holiday, Kunstverein, Heilbronn, Germany
- New Work, Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York, United States
- Enoc Pérez, Dee / Glasoe, New York, United States
2001
- The Secret, Galerie Michael Janssen, Colonia, Germany
1999
- Winter, Bronwyn Keenan Gallery, New York, United States
- Daydreaming, Turner & Runyon, Dallas, Texas, United States
1998
- A Year Without Love, Bronwyn Keenan Gallery, New York, United States
1993
- White Columns, New York, United States
- Galería Uno, Caracas, Venezuela
Group Shows
2013
- City Self, MICA, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- POP: Politics of Place, AD&A Museum, California, United States
2012
- Painting as a Radical Form, Collezione Maramotti, Italy
- Interconexiones: Lecturas curatoriales de la colección permanente del MAPR, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- In Between, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Bruselas, Belgium
- Skyscraper: Art and Architecture Against Gravity, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Spring Fever, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York, United States
- New Prints 2012, International Print Center, New York, United States
- Caribbean : Crossroads of the world, Studio Museum, Harlem, New York; Queens Museum of Art, Queens, New York; El Museo del Barrio, New York, United States
- Jorge Pardo / Enoc Perez, Joan Prats Art Grafic, Barcelona, Spain
2011
- Painting…Expanded, Espacio 1414, Colección Berezdivin, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2010
- Portraits, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Bruselas, Belgium
- Meet Me Inside, Gagosian, Los Angeles, California, United States
- Best of, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Bruselas, Belgium
2009
- Transitions: Painting at the (Other) End of Art, Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy
- Works on Paper, Faggionato Fine Arts, London, England
2008
- Painting the Glass House, Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut, United States
2007
- Timer 01/Intimacy, Triennale Bovisa, Milán, Italy
- NeoIntegrity, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, United States
- Blood Meridian, Galerie Michael Janssen, Berlin, Germany
- Small Format, Faggionato Fine Arts, London, England
2006
- Perry Rubenstein, New York, United States
2005
- Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York, United States
- 10 Years! Galerie Michael Janssen, Galerie Michael Janssen, Colonia, Germany
- Ciao Manhatten, Perugi Arte Contempoanea, Padova, Italy
2004
- The Undiscovered Country, UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California, United States
- None of the Above: Contemporary Works by Puerto Rican Artists, Real Art Ways, Hartford, Connecticut, United States; Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Looking at Painting 2, Galerie Tanit, Munich, Germany
2003
- hands up, baby, hands up, Kunstverein, OldenBurg, Germany
- Environs, Feigen Contemporary, New York, United States
- Preview 2003, The Happy Lion, Los Angeles, California, United States
2002-2003
- 'Dear Painter, paint me…' Painting the Figure since late Picabia, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Kunsthalle, Viena, Austria; Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Germany
2001
- Arte en Puerto Rico a través del tiempo, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Boomerang: Collector's Choice, Exit Art, New York, United States
2000
- Two by Two for AIDS and Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, United States
- 1900-2000: Paintings from a Misshapen Century, Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canadá
- Annual Benefit Exhibition, White Columns, New York, United States
1999
- At Century's End, Museum of Contemporary Art, Lake Worth, Florida, United States
- Fresh Flowers: Floral Imagery in Contemporary Art, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, Washington, United States
- The S-Files: The Selected Files, El Museo del Barrio, New York, United States
1998
- Encyclopedia 1999, Turner & Runyon, Dallas, Texas, United States
- Message to Pretty, Thread Waxing Space, New York, United States
- Home & Away, Gavin Brown's Enterprise, New York, United States
1997
- Road Show '97, Bronwyn Keenan Gallery, New York, United States
1996
- The Most Important Thing in the World: Oasis vs. Blur & Artists Who Rock, The Art Exchange Show, New York, United States
- V Bienal Internacional de Pintura, Cuenca, Ecuador
1995
- Annual Benefit Exhibition, White Columns, New York, United States
1994
- Quinta Bienal de la Habana, Havana, Cuba
1993
- Update 1993, White Columns, New York, United States
- Caracas; Venezuela Invitational Show, Sala Alternativa Galería de Arte, Caracas, Venezuela
- Pequeños Formatos, Luigi Marrozzini Gallery, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Collections
- Art, Design and Architecture Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, United States
- Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wiconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, United States
- Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Queens Museum, Queens, New York, United States
- RISD Museum of Art, Providence, Rhode Island, United States
- University Museum of Contemporary Art, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, United States
- Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
- British Museum, London, England
- Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington DC, United States
- Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States
- Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, Miami, Florida, United States
- New York Public Library, New York, United States
- Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
- Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York, United States
- Richmond Center for Visual Arts, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California, United States
- Tang Museum, Saratoga Springs, New York, United States
- The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, United States
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States
- University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, California, United States
- Vera List Center, New School, New York, United States
- Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, United States
- William College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States
Bibliography
Books
Enoc Perez. Assouline, 2013, pp. 140.
Perez, Enoc. Gilles Mendel by Enoc Perez, J. Mendel, 2013, pp. 70.
Deluxe. Faggionato Fine Art, 2006.
Deluxe Limited Edition. Faggionato Fine Art, 2006.
Catalogues
Enoc Pérez. Collezione Maramotti, Italia, 2008.
Enoc Pérez. MOCA North Miami, Florida, Estados Unidos, 2007.
Enoc Pérez. Snoeck Germany, Alemania, 2005.
Interconexiones: Lecturas Curatoriales de la Colección del MAPR, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2012.
Now’ Utopia. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC, United States, 2012.
Paris Mon Amour. Enoc Perez Studio, Nueva York, 2013.
Suite 720. Published by Faggionato Fine Art, Londres, Inglaterra, 2008.
Tender. Snoeck Germany, Alemania, 2008.
The Good Days. Acquavella Galleries, Nueva York, Estados Unidos, 2012.
Utopia. Acquavella Galleries, Nueva York, Estados Unidos, 2012.
Magazines
Boucher, Bryan. “Enoc Perez in 3D”. Art in America, Enero 2013.
Byrnes, Mark. “Enoc Perez: The Andy Warhol of Architecture”. Dwell, Enero 2013.
Corbett, Rachel. “Enoc Perez Previews his New Picasso-Inspired Series”. Artspace, Agosto 2013.
Lobrasbe, Shireen. “New York - Enoc Pérez “The Good Days”, at Aquavella Galleries”. ArtObserved, Enero 2013.
Wallis, Stephen. “Enoc Perez’s Latest Work”. Architectural Digest, Noviembre 2013.
Newspapers
“Artist Enoc Perez Paints the Great Cities That Never Were”. Daily Beast, 26 de noviembre de 2013.
“Bookshelf: Work of an Artist”. The New York Times (Nueva York, EEUU), 17 de noviembre de 2013.
“Seeing Things / Reaching for the Sky”. The New York Times Magazine (Nueva York (EEUU), 5 de Julio de 2012.
“Skyline Views: Artists Scale the Heights”. The Wall Street Journal (Nueva York, EEUU), 22 de junio de 2012.
“The World of Gilles Mendel, According to Enoc Perez”. The New York Times Style Magazine (Nueva York, EEUU), 16 de noviembre de 2013.