I am interested in exposing our vulnerabilities and projecting a sense of strength through subtle and contemplative expressions of the faces and gestures of the figure.
Keith Perelli is a figurative artist exploring male portraiture through the lens of personal, social and political issues. The abstract and surrealist sensibilities in his work stems from both his interest in the work produced and taught at the University of New Orleans by prominent local professors in the field of painting.His graduate work at the University of CIncinnati in sculpture and installation focused on the on complex social and political ramifications of HIV and and the AIDS crisis of the 80ś and 90ś. Perelli's work has been recognized through numerous awards, grants and exhibitions.
Artist Statement:
My figure-based work is often a fusion of illusory abstraction and naturalism. I attempt to render the figures as though they were stripped of our ordinary facade of protection, such as our physical gestures and emotions, clothing, and boundaries of space. I am interested in exposing our vulnerabilities and projecting a sense of strength through subtle and contemplative expressions of the faces and gestures of the figure. It is thought they are stoic even when surrounded by ever-shifting planar shapes, lines, and bold, expressive marks. My current work is the result of years of flirting with that abstract process as a force that shifts space around the figure and has the power to create a tenuous sense of balance. As I slowly began to extract the figure and its dominance within my work, the subjects themselves became quiet veils of their former selves. I liked this subtlety and wanted to challenge myself to find new ways of communicating ideas through an almost meditative working method. I liked how abstraction made me focus on the physicality of the materials while weighing my choices.
Most of my work is from my imagination, but in most series, I have sought to explore issues of gravity, such as the evolving rights of minorities, LGTBQ, and minority groups. Even though there seem to be moments of progress, there are always complex factors of our socialized and internalized strife with the "other." I don't see my work as a problem solver but one that raises those moments of empathy and unity within the viewer. The soul can be arresting when exposed or tapped into; painting that sense of humanity on the outside of our facades is perhaps the most challenging notion for the portrait painter.