HONG KONG.- Ben Brown Fine Arts is presenting More Than This, the first solo exhibition of Puerto Rican-American artist Enoc Perez to be held at the Hong Kong gallery, taking place between 7 September - 13 October 2021. Comprising oil paintings, this largely new body of work is reflective of Perez's deep interest in architectural spaces, a signature and ongoing source of inspiration within his art.
Featuring classic architectural works and striking modern interiors, the works in this exhibition explore the metaphorical significance of architectural spaces all over the world - particularly poignant at a time when we have been so confined and limited to our own personal spaces. Widely travelled and based in New York, Perez's imagination is as much stimulated by international landmarks as by the modernist skyscrapers of his home city. From their aesthetic and conceptual importance to their relationship with popular culture, Perez upholds each of these buildings and interiors as physical emblems of historic and cultural moments - often representative of utopian social ideals.
These themes and ideas are exemplified by large-scale works such as Grand Lisboa (2017), in which Perez presents an almost anthropomorphic rendering of the iconic landmark Macau hotel and casino. His painting captures the exuberant excesses of modern city life as epitomised by this towering, other-worldly structure, exploring the collective identity that these architectural structures imply. Other works such as the pastel brilliance of San Angel Inn (2020) explore the relationship between its architecture and natural environment, while in La Grande Motte (2020) Perez's focus on form and colour highlights the futuristic geometry of Jean Balladur's design. By representing these structures as paintings on the canvas, Perez celebrates them as works of art, and encourages us to contemplate them in the same way.
This integral relationship between art and architecture is also highlighted in Perez's series of studio and home interiors. The colourful hues of Georg Baselitz Studio (2021) - the largest work on show in this exhibition - considers the space as much of an artwork as the canvas on display within it. Elsewhere, in works such as Casa Sachs, Roma (2021), Perez draws attention to the furnishings and decorative objects that occupy these spaces. Such paintings ponder the relationship between architecture and the wider creative cultural sphere, from design to music - reflected in the exhibition's title, a reference to the 1982 track by English rock band Roxy Music.
Finally, the exhibition also presents a new grouping of Perez's palm tree paintings inspired by the landscape of his native country and his own mind. Characteristic of Perez's vibrant palette, these sunset-silhouetted forms offer a colourful celebration of the natural world - one that stands in contrast with the manmade structures in the rest of the exhibition, casting them in a new light. The result is a body of work that interrogates the boundary between nature and culture, interior and exterior, architecture and art.
