Guild Hall will present two spring exhibitions “Enoc Perez: Paradise” and “Karin Waisman: The Horizon is Not a Straight Line,” on view concurrently from April 24 through May 31. Both exhibitions are curated by Museum Director and Chief Curator Christina Mossaides Strassfield.
“I am truly delighted and honored to have been able to work with such talented artists who demonstrate the enduring creative community of the East End,” said Strassfield. “Each has their own voice, vision, and passion that is translated by the unique techniques of their chosen media.”
Perez is a contemporary Puerto Rican-born multimedia artist best known for his paintings and oil stick drawings. Perez’s Guild Hall exhibition, “Paradise” will be on view in the Moran and Spiga Galleries and will explore the theme of natural disasters. Through large-scale paintings, Perez refers to the devastation that Puerto Rico experienced during the 2017 Hurricane Maria. Instead of focusing on the physical destruction, the artist paints bent, but not broken, palm trees to represent the hope that Puerto Rico will move forward and recover. Paradise will include paintings, sculpture, and drawings that have been created specifically for this exhibition, as well as other works that have yet to be exhibited elsewhere.
A short-form video on Enoc Perez: “Ocean Park” created by Shifting Vision, a foundation that examines how current social, political, and ecological issues influence our perception of the arts, will be shown continuously in the Spiga Gallery. Ocean Park shows the degradation caused by Hurricane Maria in the artist’s native Puerto Rico and the artist’s need to document this event.
“Having a show at Guild Hall is for me an opportunity to go on record as one of the artists that works in and loves East Hampton,” said Perez. “When you look at the history of artists in the area you realize that so many great artists had a relationship with East Hampton and Guild Hall through the generations. It makes me feel like my work is part of that history and that is a wonderful feeling.”
Perez will join Christina Mossaides Strassfield for a live-streamed Gallery Talk on Saturday, May 22 at 3 PM. A bilingual gallery tour with Perez will also be available online.
Karin Waisman is an Argentinian-born multidisciplinary artist whose practice investigates the rhythmic cadence and pulsating patterns of nature. Her work includes large-scale public installations, wall reliefs, and drawings that explore our perception of natural world— its fluid and contradictory processes, boundless growth, and imminent threat of disorder. In this new exhibition, “The Horizon Is Not a Straight Line,” presented in the Woodhouse Gallery, Waisman will exhibit a site specific, 250-inch-long cast resin and ceramic wall relief that investigates the notion of the border, conceiving it not as a straight line but a complex contact point between two elements that push and pull while continuing to support one another.
Also included are two series of Waisman’s pencil drawings on Mylar. The first, “Fragments of a Mountain,” studies the passage of geological time, absolute and determined by emptiness. Hundreds of years of erosion expose cavities in rock that hold humidity and debris. The second series, titled “The Ocean Drawings,” immerses the viewer into varying depths, currents, and temperatures, evoking oceanic currents that move us deeper then closer to the surface. The final and earliest work, “Siren’s Beach,” unfolds across the floor in a cast-aluminum sculpture depicting a segment of desiccated land fragmented into a maze of Pythagorean spirals. This will be the most in-depth presentation of Waisman’s internationally exhibited collection of work to date.
“Working on the East End of Long Island gives me a sense of belonging, rooted in a long tradition of artists who moved here to be close to nature. Guild Hall is at the center of that community and I’m very honored to contribute with my exhibition to that legacy,” said Waisman.
A virtual talk with Estrellita B. Brodsky, PhD and Waisman will take place on Saturday, May 8 at 3 PM. Additionally, a bilingual gallery tour with Waisman will also be available online.
Visit www.guildhall.org.