Art on the Cutting Edge

With echoes of Lichtenstein’s Brush Stroke paintings, and Pollock’s relish for chaotic clashes of color, Emilio Perez’s eye-bending canvases marry pop and abstract expressionism via some nifty work with an X-acto blade. To create his paintings he builds up layers of painted acrylic and latex, then cuts through to reveal swirling masses of color, shape and texture. Though previously he has employed sharp, cartoonish contrasts of black and white, his latest series, Breakfast by the Light of the Moon, swerves into darker territory, employing a rich palette of royal blue, burgundy and flesh tones to create an astonishing sense of barely controlled writhing. Perez’s latest paintings are being exhibited at Galerie Lelong, New York, from February 11.