M+B is pleased to present Controlled Folly, an exhibition of new works by Alina Perez. This is the artist's first solo show with the gallery. The exhibition opens July 9, 2022 and will run through August 27, 2022 with an opening reception on Saturday, July 9 from 2 to 5 pm.
Alina Perez’s drawings embrace ambiguity, insisting upon the capacity of our paths and perspectives to be open and capable of change. The works in this exhibition build upon the fluid structures of memories, selecting elements from the past and present to create new images that blur reality and the imagination, forming a tense and dynamic marriage of histories and temporalities.
Vibrating with a low chromatic frequency, Dreamt I Could Sleep Underwater, Woke Up in Tears is an amorphous symphony of light, atmosphere and spirit. Figures appear energetic and in flux, somewhere between formation and dissolution, as if planes of time are collapsing into coexistence. Dynamic marks announce the presence of the artist as multiple events swirl and float between each other, blending and merging to create a scene that is both of, and beyond, this world. The act of drawing itself becomes an expression of a freedom born out of lightheartedness, the fulfillment of desires, and the dispelling of fear.
In Between Us, a child and young woman are posed opposite each other, a bouquet of enormous marigolds bursting like fireworks between them. Occupying as much space within the room as if they were figures themselves, through the abundance of their exaggeration, the marigolds suspend communication between the girls and interrupt their insular moment. Whether a continuous narrative across time or a hazy remembrance, Perez remains indeterminate in what ties the figures to each other, leaving open the possibility they may be iterations of the same self, separated only by time and experience. By allowing her images the grace to exist and hold multiple meanings at once, the artist shows us that our memories and beliefs remain mutable in order to make way for new meaning.
The works presented in Controlled Folly highlight the importance of fluidity, pleasure and desire as being central to the transformation of our own yearning, frustration and pain. We are encouraged to detach and approach our personal histories with openness, to become comfortable with uncertainty as a necessary condition for growth. Perez’s drawings revisit, reinterpret and reconstruct the layers of her histories and personhood with a playfulness that beckons us to be the fool who leads where wise men fear to tread: to walk forwards in a constant state of becoming.
- Arel Lisette
Alina Perez (b. 1995 Miami, FL) received her BFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design and her MFA in Painting and Printmaking at the Yale University of Art in New Haven. She was a participant at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2017, and has attended residencies at the Fine Arts Works Center in Provincetown, the OxBow School of Art in Michigan, and the Vermont Studio Center. Her work was recently exhibited at the Taubman Museum of Art, Virginia; Atlanta Contemporary, Georgia; Deli Gallery, New York; Arcadia Missa, London; Rachel Uffner, New York; and Company Gallery, New York.
For all inquiries, please contact info@mbart.com.