Tony Perez - The Last Interview by Tim Faulkner

Tony Perez "The Mummy" on vintage vinyl

On December 21st Tony Perez passed away leaving an indelible footprint not only here at home, but in the art world everywhere. Tony and I had been working on an interview and article for Louisville Bricks, but had decided to postpone it until after the holidays. The reason for this was that Tony was formulating a new body of work and we wanted to be able to discuss that as well. We just assumed that there would be time soon after the new year was underway.  As I was putting this together, I was re-reading emails and I ran across something that Tony had sent to me recently and it made me very sad.

He said "Don't let the grass grow under your feet, but it is nice to slow down and smell the roses, something I should do more often."

I know we shall all miss seeing him in the gallery for a very long time. I still expect to turn and see that quirky, Spanish born Englishman walk upstairs and say "Do you guys wanna see what I have in my car?"

    




Q.  How did you end up in the States?
A.  I met a Kentucky girl in London and after a few years of dating back and forth we thought we may as well get married and move here.

Q.  Have you all ways been in to street art?
A.  My interest has all ways been in art out side the gallery walls. Be it in an ally, a train or a hot rod. My interests range from modern design to a love of vintage Americana, knowing that below the dimly lit street light there has always been an underbelly of speakeasy's and teenage delinquents, that make life more interesting. Pop culture in all its glory.

Q.  Is there a big contrast between European and

American street

art?
A.  What I see is that there is more interest in art in general in Europe and street art has all ways been very popular and adventurous. I have been asked to participate in more festivals and shows in Europe and have sold more pieces there than here. Almost a 3 to 1 ratio.

Q. Where are you showing?
A.  Here in Louisville it's an honor to be at the Tim Faulkner Gallery.  I was just in a show in Sacramento CA. and will be showing in Seattle next month. They have chosen to use one of my pieces as the event poster, which is always great encouragement that I am doing something right. In Europe I have just come off a show in Italy, and a festival in Bogota, Colombia earlier this year. I have paste-ups in France, Germany and Cuba right now. I also have representation in Spain and have just sold 5 pieces there. Europe as a whole has a lot more festivals and shows when it comes to street art.

Q. How did you get to do shows outside the States?
A. 99% of them are by invite. I display my work on Facebook and Flickr on the Internet  and have had a great response.

Q. Tell us a little about your work and the process?
A.  These paintings are stencils taken to the extreme. Any were from 9 to 16 layers.
The process starts with photoshop were the picture is posterized and then hand separated without the use of filters.  Once done it is all hand cut, taking up to 60, 80+ hours on some pieces. the detail in each layer is intense. All the bridges and islands are directly worked out in the cutting, so it's constant thinking and planing while cutting. The backgrounds are also made up of several stencils and free hand spraying or painting. The backgrounds on my newer pieces are usually made up using multiple layers of vintage newsprint or magazines. Depth and color are my main objective in each piece. My subject mater ranges from vintage horror and movie stars to homeless people and kustom kulture . I am working on my photographic skills as I would like to do pieces based on my own photos. Because of the long process that goes in to each piece I am usually working on 2 or 3 pieces at a time. I have several piece ready to cut if only I could find the time.

Q. we hear that you also do pinstriping
A. Yes. I have been doing traditional pinstriping for a long time now and try to incorporate it in to some of my more kulture piece. the hot rod pieces on skate boards, old car parts and tool boxes. Pinstriping and stencils seem to be opposites art forms but for me they fit and are a great complement to each other. I love painting on non traditional medium and they both allow me to do so.

Q. Were would you like to be a year from now as far as your art?
A.  My dream is to be able to paint full time and make a living from my art. I would like to do more pieces based on my photography.


I will leave you with one more piece of Tony's insight. The rest, I think, I shall keep for myself until I no longer need the road maps given to me by a very special artist. We have all raised our glasses to Tony in the past, and I know we will do it many more times in the days ahead!

"Being raised in a place where differences were not only excepted but celebrated helps a child gain a greater sense of self worth, or at least feel that it is more important to be yourself and find your own path in life rather than trying to fit in to preconceived social groups. We all graduate towards people with similar ideas and views as ourselves, but to be someone you are not just to fit in, is to me one of the biggest injustices we can do to ourselves. That is not to say we should be different just for the sake of being different. We need to know who we are before we let someone do that for us. We should also celebrate what makes others different, and have an open mind to different views, cultures and aspects of life; social, ethnic and every thing in between.   A social commentary on present circumstances here in the States is something I am trying to incorporate into my art work lately."-Tony Perez


Lowi and Tony at his reception at Tim Faulkner gallery in October 2010