Perez was born in Cuba and immigrated to the United States at the age of twelve. Completing his early education in Tampa he chose to study art at the University of Tampa receiving a BFA in 1974. He was given a graduate fellowship award and full scholarship to attend Maryland Art Institute, Hoff Berger School of Painting receiving an MFA in 1978.
Perez' notable awards include the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, INTAR Theater Stage Design, The Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation and The Fabric Workshop, Philadelphia, PA. His solo exhibitions include Marilyn Pearl Gallery, New York, NY, Janus Gallery, Los Angelis, CA and Der Brucke Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina; The Fabric Workshop, Philadelphia, PA. Group invitationals include the Whitney Biennual1997, Whitney Museum of American Art, NY, Three New York Artists, Nina Menocal, Mexico City; New York Artists, Der Brucke Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cuba-USA: The First Generation, originated at the Museum for Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL and traveled to Fondo Del Sol Visual Arts Center, Washington, DC and Minnesota Museum of Art, St Paul, MN. Another traveling exhibition that included Perez' work Hispanic Art in the United States: Thirty Contemporary Painters and Sculptors, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX and traveled to the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC; Los Angeles county Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; and other venues. Perez work is in public and private collections throughout the country, including the Museum of Modern Art, N.Y, the Dannheisser Foundation, New York, NY and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX.
While at STUDIO-f April 2003 Perez applies exotic materials to transparent surface material combining subtle ethereal forms with recognizable objects - seemingly out of context. The viewer is forced to rethink the meaning of images. In a portrait of Michael Jackson diamond dust hair added special glitter for the celebrity. Perez uses clocks as a reminder of the influences of change - time changes viewpoints – like symbolism gone awry. His Transvestite Clock on a 2-D surface suggests a gold leaf surface of a sculpture of his in bronze.
Perez lives and works in New York City.
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