The gallery Projex-Mtl still smelled of fresh paint when I went for a sneak preview of Emilio Chapela Perez‘s exhibition 3,725 km.

For Perez, an artist from Mexico City, this exhibition is a journey – the 3,725 km quoted in show’s title is the distance between Mexico and Montreal. Perez chronicles icons, both human and commercial, which bridge the distance between these two cities. He is presenting two series of work. One is an elegant series of portraits of Canadian celebrities – Neil Young, David Cronenberg, Denys Arcand and others – which though a process of digital subtraction have been reduced to the essentials of their character. The remaining pools of dense black become nearly abstract, in fact, Arcand’s portrait reminds me of a Rorschach test. The other series of works is pure minimalism. Bands of flat hues are presented next to each other in simple colour blocks. But there’s more than meets the eye: each colour set represents the precise combination and percentages of colours of famous company logos. See if you can spot the Bombardier or the Metro logo. Perez’s work is both strongly concept driven and reductionist, and this may be a result of his background. Originally trained as a mathematician, he describes himself as an “accidental artist.” This kind of accident I’d like to see more of!

Projex-Mtl
space 212
Emilio Chapela Perez
3,725 km
exhibition period: October 8 – November 8, 2008
vernissage: Saturday, October 11, 2008, 3:00pm – 6:00pm
www.projex-mtl.com