Carlos Rolón/Dzine and Enoc Perez

Exhibition Dates: November 5 - December 17, 2016
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 5, 2016 5 - 7 p.m.

Chimento Contemporary is pleased to present an exhibition of new collaborative works by artists Carlos Rolón/Dzine and Enoc Perez.

Rolón and Perez have been friends and colleagues for many years, reflecting a kindred spirit whose aesthetic and socio-political dimensions gives rise to this new project of pure collaboration. Both artists work in painting and sculpture, as each with their diverse and unique style conveys influences and interests stemming from the Puerto Rican heritage they share, and the culture of immigration, aspiration, identity and the idea of the American Dream as it pertains to languages of pop culture and art history.

For this project, Perez has created a series of small-scale oil on canvas works, whose intimate allegorical imagery draws on his penchant for interpretive architectural renderings, in order to present images of various “homelands” which immigrants have left behind in order to pursue better lives in the US. These semi-abstract but emotionally evocative scenes are augmented by handcrafted frames by Rolón, made from reclaimed wood and emblazoned with cultural emblems that symbolize success for newly arrived Latino immigrants to the United States. “The work is about aspirations and dreams deferred,” say the artists, for whom this unique project represents not only a stylistic and material fusion of their mutually empathetic art practice in precious, expressive works of art and craft, but also an insightful reflection on the pathways of their own family histories, that create discourse with a broader audience.

Carlos Rolón/Dzine (b. 1970, Chicago Illinois) attended Columbia College, Chicago with a concentration in painting and drawing. Rolón has been recognized for his elaborately crafted paintings, ornate sculptures and works that come out of American, Latino and uniquely based subcultures. His studio practice investigates pop culture, craft, ritual, beauty and its relationship to art history, subculture, appropriation and the institution. The artist creates objects questioning the concept of luxury and craft making to explore questions of identity, integration and aspiration. His work also represents a detailed examination of curiosity and the process of art making and the cultures surrounding this. The work often addresses his biography by melding memory and the imaginary with carefully crafted, hybrid works that are playfully situated between the contradictory worlds of conspicuous consumption and urban artifact. Rolón is a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation award for Painting and Sculpture. Recent museum exhibitions and projects include the Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; The New Museum, New York; the Bass Museum of Art, Miami; Flint Institute of Arts, Michigan; the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan; the Contemporary Art Museum, St.Louis; the Museum Het Domein, Sittard, The Netherlands; The Busan Biennale, Korea; the Ukrainian Pavilion, 52nd Biennale di Venezia, Italy, among others. His work is in many museum and public collections such as the Bass Museum of Art, Miami; the Brooklyn Museum, NY; City of Chicago Public Art Collection, Illinois; Museo del Barrio, New York; Museo de Arte de Ponce; Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan; Museum Het Domein, Sittard, The Netherlands; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City; and the Pinchuk Art Centre, Kiev.

Enoc Perez born in San Juan in 1967, took his first painting lesson at age 8, he is the son of an art critic, he studies Art History, travels in many countries where he spent his time in museums. In 1986, he moved to New York on the purpose to study painting at the Pratt Institute. The work of Enoc Perez is present in major public collections as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of New York, The British Museum in London, the Museum of Contemporary Art of San Juan , Porto Rico, and the Corcoran Gallery of Washington D.C . He still lives in New York where he continues to find inspiration for his work.