Gustavo Pérez: Exhibition of Ceramics

Internationally renowned ceramist, Gustavo Pérez, has dedicated over forty years to the creative arts, producing fine ceramic artwork.  

From 9 to 14 November 2010, Gustavo Pérez will be exposing some of his artwork at La Galerie de l’Europe in Saint Germain des Prés, Paris. His exhibition is being held concurrently with that of Sylvie Sarrazin.

Gustavo Pérez was born in Mexico in 1950. In his early years, he studied engineering, mathematics and philosophy at UNAM in Mexico City. He graduated in 1971. That same year he discovered the joy of working with clay at the Escuela de Diseño y Artesanías de la Ciudadela. 

That encounter ignited a lifetime passion. He enrolled in the School of Art and Design in Mexico. From then on he would never abandon his dedication to clay. Even today he says: "For me, ceramic is and has been the center of life." 

In 1980, Pérez travelled to Breda in the Netherlands. It was there that he developed an interest in working with porcelain. That fascination stayed with him and was later fueled even further through experiences had in Shigaraki, Japan, in 1997. 

In Europe, Pérez’s creative horizons were fertilized by its particular history and culture. He was exposed to Europe’s creators. He began to define his own talents as a ceramist. It was then that he began to employ line drawing in his clay creations.

Since 1992, Pérez has lived and worked in his workshop, tucked away in a humid rainforest in Zoncuantla, Xalapa, Veracruz in Mexico. There he has been inspired by the organic world surrounding him. He also spends time working in France at the studio of Brigitte Pénicaude.

In 2006, he was invited to work at the “Manufacture nationale de Sèvres” in Paris, France. There he was able to fulfill this desire to work with porcelain.

There are numerous dimensions to his work. One can point to two recurring themes. Firstly, there is an ever evolving complexity of the intimacy and growth between the artist and his raw material. The material constantly reveals new and challenging possibilities. Secondly, he is always looking for something new. The newly discovered is then integrated and reconciled with the old.  There is an organic dimension to his work’s development. From a period in which he dedicated himself almost exclusively to incisions, he developed his work through several firings in which compressed pieces became predominant. This has lead most recently to the now famous pieces in which incisions and compressed forms merge.

In the current exhibition at La Galerie de l’Europe, Gustavo Pérez will be exposing a number of works following two formats. The predominant round dish is a form that follows the principles of the “plat rond Diane”. This is a form that was created at the end of the 1950s at Sèvres. The form’s simplicity has inspired the creative expressions of creators such as Pierre Alechinsky, Etienne Hajdu and Zao Wou-ki. The second format consists of a cylindrical shape, or vase.

We hope you can join us for Gustavo Pérez's exhibition at La Galerie de l'Europe (opening 9 November 2010, from 18H00, or thereafter to 14 November 2010).

For more images of the artwork of Gustavo Pérez, visit Sarrazin Art's dedicated Gallery for Gustavo Pérez.