Enoc Perez Puerto Rican, b. 1967
Spirited Greetings, 2023
Oil on canvas
152.4 x 152.4 cm. (60 x 60 in.)
Copyright The Artist
Spirited Greetings, 2023, is a vivid oil painting by Enoc Perez, depicting Bacardi rum bottles alongside half-empty cocktail glasses. In this work, Perez encapsulates the allure of consumer culture, channeling...
Spirited Greetings, 2023, is a vivid oil painting by Enoc Perez, depicting Bacardi rum bottles alongside half-empty cocktail glasses. In this work, Perez encapsulates the allure of consumer culture, channeling the seductive qualities of liquor advertisements through a lens that is both critical and entrancing. The painting, rich in sensory detail, reflects the artist's ongoing exploration of the intoxicating promises made by consumerism, while simultaneously embracing the artistic pursuit of beauty and pleasure for its own sake.
Returning to a motif he first explored in the early 2000s, Perez's portrayals of Bacardi rum bottles reveal a striking architectonic quality, resonating with his enduring fascination with modernist architecture and monuments—a defining element of his artistic practice. Spirited Greetings emerges as a deeply personal work, echoing the artist's journey of temptation, consumption, and redemption, charting a path towards sobriety that he has steadfastly followed for over 15 years.
The Bacardi rum bottles, Puerto Rico’s national spirit, serve as potent metaphors for Perez, symbolising both personal and collective aspirations and disappointments. They conjure the nostalgic allure of 1970s alcohol advertisements, which promised joy and abundance yet often delivered disillusionment. Perez's distinctive technique amplifies these themes: beginning with coloured drawings, he then applies oil paint to the reverse side using oil sticks, transferring the image onto the canvas. This process yields a textural effect akin to a carbon copy, with grainy, blurred surfaces evocative of early Xerox prints, infusing the work with a palpable sense of longing and faded splendour.
This series retains a thematic kinship with Perez’s earlier works depicting iconic luxury hotels of the 1950s and '60s, which evoke an era of optimistic utopianism—a time marked by elegance, affluence, and futuristic design. These hotels symbolised the aspirations and illusions of a cultural moment in Puerto Rico’s history, reflecting the island’s modernisation during a period of significant economic growth and burgeoning tourism, shaped by its colonial legacy.
The Bacardi series, with its ‘ready-made’ Pop sensibility, provocatively contrasts the allure of advertising’s promises with the sobering realities of alcohol consumption, mirroring the artist’s critique of the idealised imagery found in tourism marketing. This juxtaposition offers a poignant commentary on the manipulative nature of commercialism, laying bare the disconnection between the glossy façades of consumer culture and the complexities of lived experience. The paintings pay homage to the dazzling liquor advertisements of the 1970s, which utilised vibrant colours to fabricate a sense of hedonistic glamour. In Perez's hands, these scenes are spectral and elusive—imbued with an ethereal quality that is imprecise and unfocused, yet hauntingly impactful on the viewer's consciousness.
Through the use of oil paint and the artist's strikingly naturalistic style, Perez elevates these ordinary commercial objects to the realm of fine art, inviting the audience to contemplate their aesthetic value while also recognising the profound impact of advertising and consumerism on our perceptions. The interplay of light, texture, and colour in Spirited Greetings not only celebrates the visual allure of the depicted objects but also urges viewers to reflect on the boundaries between art and advertising, where the distinctions between authentic beauty and synthetic desire blur inextricably.
Returning to a motif he first explored in the early 2000s, Perez's portrayals of Bacardi rum bottles reveal a striking architectonic quality, resonating with his enduring fascination with modernist architecture and monuments—a defining element of his artistic practice. Spirited Greetings emerges as a deeply personal work, echoing the artist's journey of temptation, consumption, and redemption, charting a path towards sobriety that he has steadfastly followed for over 15 years.
The Bacardi rum bottles, Puerto Rico’s national spirit, serve as potent metaphors for Perez, symbolising both personal and collective aspirations and disappointments. They conjure the nostalgic allure of 1970s alcohol advertisements, which promised joy and abundance yet often delivered disillusionment. Perez's distinctive technique amplifies these themes: beginning with coloured drawings, he then applies oil paint to the reverse side using oil sticks, transferring the image onto the canvas. This process yields a textural effect akin to a carbon copy, with grainy, blurred surfaces evocative of early Xerox prints, infusing the work with a palpable sense of longing and faded splendour.
This series retains a thematic kinship with Perez’s earlier works depicting iconic luxury hotels of the 1950s and '60s, which evoke an era of optimistic utopianism—a time marked by elegance, affluence, and futuristic design. These hotels symbolised the aspirations and illusions of a cultural moment in Puerto Rico’s history, reflecting the island’s modernisation during a period of significant economic growth and burgeoning tourism, shaped by its colonial legacy.
The Bacardi series, with its ‘ready-made’ Pop sensibility, provocatively contrasts the allure of advertising’s promises with the sobering realities of alcohol consumption, mirroring the artist’s critique of the idealised imagery found in tourism marketing. This juxtaposition offers a poignant commentary on the manipulative nature of commercialism, laying bare the disconnection between the glossy façades of consumer culture and the complexities of lived experience. The paintings pay homage to the dazzling liquor advertisements of the 1970s, which utilised vibrant colours to fabricate a sense of hedonistic glamour. In Perez's hands, these scenes are spectral and elusive—imbued with an ethereal quality that is imprecise and unfocused, yet hauntingly impactful on the viewer's consciousness.
Through the use of oil paint and the artist's strikingly naturalistic style, Perez elevates these ordinary commercial objects to the realm of fine art, inviting the audience to contemplate their aesthetic value while also recognising the profound impact of advertising and consumerism on our perceptions. The interplay of light, texture, and colour in Spirited Greetings not only celebrates the visual allure of the depicted objects but also urges viewers to reflect on the boundaries between art and advertising, where the distinctions between authentic beauty and synthetic desire blur inextricably.