MICHEL PÉREZ POLLO @ Gallery Weekend Beijing

Victor Gisler and Mai 36 Galerie are pleased to announce the gallery’s participation in Gallery Weekend Beijing 2019 with Michel Pérez Pollo’s first ever exhibition in China, opening on 22 March 2019.

The exhibition, titled In Front Of The World, shows Michel Pérez Pollo’s (*1981 in Manzanilla, Cuba) recent works that explore figurative situations, sculptural portraiture and the metaphysical. Through his skilled conduction of colour and form, the paintings appear to show motifs familiar to the beholder, without having to identify with rigid concepts or definitions. It is precisely this balance that grants Michel Pérez Pollo’s work a universal expression that speaks to our innate self, transcending cultural structures and societal norms, while maintaining an element of the unknown.

In an interview to Laura Salas Redondo for her upcoming book Cuba Talks, Michel Pérez Pollo elaborates on a central aspect in his work:

“For me, painting has an intrinsic metaphysical component. It is always something beyond physics, the object or what we see. Perhaps, metaphysical is the most appropriate term I find to refer to my work. It has to do with the relationship between elements and the emotional impact that these relationships generate. For me this is fundamentally related to the mystery and what we don’t know about the most common things.”

Indeed, Michel Pérez Pollo manages to walk the fine line between the push and pull of the symbolic and the abstract. Some of his recent works allude to ancient sculptures but delve into perspectives less explored. For instance, he focuses on the disruption of body and pedestal while neither neglecting the former nor the latter. In other works, he pays attention to the rear of his chosen object without resorting to loud connotations. In an adept manner, he most subtly refers to occurrences of a political and cultural nature yet remains pure, at times almost childlike. It could be said that the paintings are placed in a contemporary vacuum, devoid of a real space and time.

Michel Pérez Pollo studied at the Escuela Profesional De Artes Plásticas in Holguín and at the Instituto De Arte in Havana. Recent exhibitions include his acclaimed solo exhibition MARMOR at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana (November 2018 -- February 2019) and the group show Kunst x Kuba – zeitgenössische Positionen seit 1989 at the Ludwig Forum Aachen (September 2017 -- February 2018). He has helped form and deeply influence a contemporary group of young Cuban artists, including Alejandro Campins, José Yaqui and Wilfredo Prieto, amongst others.

We look forward to welcoming you and thank you for your interest.