Perry Vásquez, BA '82, added to permanent collection of The Cheech Center for Chicano Art and Culture
Perry Vásquez’s triptych titled Three Studies of Palm Trees has been added to the permanent collection of the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture. The work will be on display as a part of Shifting Perspectives: Cheech Collects from June 1, 2024 – April 27, 2025 on the first-floor gallery.
Vásquez is an interdisciplinary artist who studied under Frank Lobdell, Nathan Oliveira and Albert Elsen while on the Farm. His recent work is focused on the iconic palm tree as a symbol of shifting colonial, environmental and cultural fortunes throughout the American West and California in particular. His interest in the California myth is planted at the nexus of his travels throughout the state, and the narratives of its tangled historical record. Combining a sense for the everyday with a straightforward style of representation, his paintings draw the viewer in with their high level of detail, while adding tension through the emotional punch of color and impasto-like textures. Regarding the work, Stanford Art & Art History lecturer Brett Amory has written, “By engaging order and chaos, utopia and dystopia, havoc and harmony, these paintings have an impact that is both captivating and ominous.”
Learn more about the artist at perryvasquez.com.