Enoc Perez: Chances are You’ll Like it All Ways

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Ben Brown Fine Arts is delighted to present Chances are You’ll Like it All Ways, a solo exhibition of works by Puerto- Rican American artist Enoc Perez to be held at the Hong Kong gallery from October 2 – November 9 . This recent series features oil paintings of Bacardi rum bottles and half-empty cocktail glasses, capturing the essence of their allure as depicted in outlandishly enticing liquor advertisements. Brimming with sensory richness, the works are infused with layers of personal and cultural meaning, exploring the deceptive promises and enduring appeal of consumer culture, while embracing art’s potential for pure beauty and pleasure.

Revisiting a subject he began exploring in the early 2000s, Perez’s paintings of Bacardi rum bottles have a distinctive architectonic quality, aligning with his longstanding interest in modern architectural buildings and monuments—a hallmark of his artistic production. They serve as a reflection on his personal journey, projecting a narrative of temptation, consumption, and ultimately, the journey to sobriety—a path he has walked for over 15 years.

The national spirit of Puerto Rico, the Bacardi rum bottles hold profound metaphorical significance for Perez, symbolising both personal and collective dreams and disillusionment, evoking the deceptive appeal of 1970s alcohol advertisements that pledged happiness and abundance yet often delivered the opposite. His innovative technique enhances this symbolism, first creating coloured drawings, then applying oil paint to the back using oil sticks and transferring them onto the canvas. This method achieves an effect akin to a carbon copy with grainy and smudged textures reminiscent of early Xerox prints, imbuing the paintings with a sense of longing and wistfulness. Paintings in the exhibition maintain thematic continuity with his earlier depictions of iconic luxury hotels from the 1950s and ’60s, which evoke a sense of nostalgic utopian promise – a world of elegance, prosperity, and futuristic design. These artworks symbolise the aspirations and illusions of that cultural epoch, reflecting Puerto Rico’s transition into modernity marked by significant economic and industrial development, particularly in the tourism sector, influenced by its colonial history. With their ‘ready-made’ Pop format, the rum bottle series provocatively contrasts the beguiling promises of advertising with the harsh realities of alcohol consumption, as seen in the parallel critique of tourism’s idealised imagery. This dichotomy offers a poignant commentary on the manipulation and disillusionment inherent in commercialism, revealing the stark disconnect between manufactured ideals and the complexities of lived experience.

The exhibition also features Perez’s paintings of Moutai, a renowned Chinese liquor with a rich history symbolising status and prestige, exhibited for the first time in Hong Kong. Through these works, Perez explores how this iconic beverage embodies both cultural pride and commercialism in modern China, drawing parallels between his personal history and broader historical narratives of colonial influence, trade, and cultural exchange in Asia, fostering a cross-cultural dialogue.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Enoc Perez, born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1967, is renowned for his paintings and oil stick drawings that depict iconic, utopian architecture and monuments. Throughout his career, Perez has developed a distinct visual vocabulary, using architecture and interiors as symbols to examine power, identity, popular culture, history and politics. Perez is similarly interested in the subliminal seduction and historical value of myriad visual media, looking at advertising, both vintage and contemporary, social media and celebrity culture to inform his work. Perez completed a BFA at Pratt Institute, New York, and an MFA in Fine Art from Hunter College, New York. Perez has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Dallas Contemporary, Dallas; UTA Artist Space, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Miami; and Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico (MAPR), San Juan. He has featured in important group exhibitions internationally including Dimensions Variables at Pavillon de l’Arsenal, Paris; City Self at Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago; Caribbean: Crossroads of the World (2012 - 2013) at The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, Queens Museum of Art, New York, and El Museo del Barrio, New York; The Undiscovered Country at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; and Dear Painter, paint me... at Centre Pompidou, Paris, in 2002. Perez’s artworks sit in the collections of major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; British Museum, London; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven; New York Public Library, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC; and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico. Perez lives and works in New York.