Perez Celis Art

Perez Celis (American, Argentinian 1939-2008) Oil and mixed media on canvas 1993 Latin abstract expressionism oil painting depicting a color block and drip motif Hand signed and dated to lower left. In gilt gold frame. Approximate dimensions: canvas h. 14", w. 21"; frame h. 24", w. 31", d. 2.25". Celis Pérez (1939 – 2008) was an Argentine artist usually referred to as Pérez Celis. He earned international recognition for his paintings, sculptures, murals and engravings. Pérez was born in San Telmo on the South side of Buenos Aires, and grew up in Liniers, on the opposite end of town. Working as a newsboy during childhood, he learned the basics of drawing and painting via correspondence classes. In 1954 he entered the Manuel Belgrano National School of Fine Arts, and under the guidance of teachers like Leopoldo Presas, Santiago Cogorno, and Libero Badii, Pérez Celis developed his interest in abstraction. He first exhibited at age 17, at Galería La Fantasma. Following his entry into the professional arts world, he began using his name in a reversed form. At the start of his career he has been influenced by Hungarian artist Victor Vasarely during a 1957 retrospective of the latter's works at the National Fine Arts Museum. Some of his later works bear the influence of Gerhard Richter. He married Sarah Fernández in 1959 and relocated to Uruguay for less than a year invited by Carlos Páez Vilaró . Took part in the "Group of 8" – proponents of abstract art among the normally conservative local audiences. "Grupo de los 8", was a movement of Latin American, Uruguayan and Argentine artists formed in 1958 together with Oscar García Reino, Miguel Ángel Pareja, Raúl Pavlovsky, Lincoln Presno, Américo Sposito, Alfredo Testoni and Julio Verdie in order to promote new tendencies in painting. In 1960 they were invited by art critic Rafael Squirru to join the international exhibition at the Buenos Aires Museum of Modern Art (of which he was creator and first director) with artists such as Willem de Kooning, Roger Hilton and Lucio Fontana. He returned to Buenos Aires in 1960, and opened a downtown atelier with the support of Guido Di Tella, his first mecena. Pérez Celis explored geometric art, and builds his first mural, Fuerza América, in 1962. Indigenous patterns and colors would reappear in many of his productions during the 1960s and 1970s, and distinguished him from most other local artists, among whom pop art and figurative art was more influential. His work had a more raw, Art Brut , Brutalist feel to it. He was featured in more than 120 solo shows during his career, notably the Galerie Bellechasse, Anita Shapolsky Gallery New York, (he showed with Agustin Fernandez, Rodolfo Abularach, Giancarlo Puppo and Cuban artist Mario Bencomo) Arteconsult, Boston & Panama, Witcomb, etc. and his art was purchased for many private collections and first-rate museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He received commissions from the Argentine government, which placed his works in the Ministro Pistarini International Airport, from other governments, and from prominent individuals and businesses. In 1977, following his wife's passing in an automobile accident he remarried and lived in Caracas, Paris, New York City, and Miami in subsequent years. He shared his time between Buenos Aires and New York in 1994, a retrospective of his work was hosted at Biblioteca Nacional visited by more than 300000 persons. He continued exhibiting in Latin America, in the Sanyo Gallery in Tokyo, the Anita Shapolsky Gallery in New York City, and at numerous universities. Among his numerous recognitions in later years was the Alba Award at the 61st Salón Nacional de Artes Plásticas Argentino, and he was proclaimed a Distinguished Citizen of the City of Buenos Aires in 2001. He also created several literary illustrations, notably those for Jorge Luis Borges' Spanish-language translation of Walt Whitman's poem Leaves of Grass. A fan of the Club Atlético Boca Juniors football team, he created two murals in 1997 for the team's La Bombonera Stadium in Buenos Aires: "Idolos" (Idols) and "Mito y Destino" (Myth and Destiny), both Venetian mosaics and bronze sculpture on cement. Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York, NY Museum of Modern Latin American Art...