Personal Background: Javier Pérez was born in Bilbao, Spain. He is a Spanish artist. As a child he loved to draw. He studied fine arts at the University of the Basque Country and at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris. He had his first individual art exhibition at Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris in 1966. In 1967, he had his first museum exhibition at Musée d'Art Modeme et Contemporain de Strasbourg. He has won the Gure 1998, Ojo Critico 1998, Premi Ciutat de Palma Antoni Gelabert d'Arts plástiques 2007, Prix de Dessin Daniel and Florence Guerlain 2007, and Lázore Galdiana 2009. He has also written a book called Dibujamos el Mundo.
Style: His work is very simple and minimal. He is an object photographer that uses drawings in his photographs. He uses objects like grapes, thumbtack, paper clips as the foundation of his idea, and then he pairs the objects with a simple ink line drawing to complete the concept. Then he uses objects to represent other things like lungs, insects, intestines, trees, people, etc. He uses daily objects, to him the most common ones appear as the most attractive to him. The object always represents something else in the image. His drawings seem so simple, but yet they are genius at the same time. He uses conceptual photography.
Philosophy: He wants people to take a break from the saturation of the photos in general. He reveals his inquiries and reflections on mankind. He uses language full of intense metaphor and imbued with strong symbolism. He shows how weak the boundary between concepts seemingly opposite such as the natural and the cultural, the inside and the outside, or life and death. He wants everybody to create something without special artistic skills. He wants to reveal how ambiguous these concepts are and how reversible they can be. He wants to confront humanity with its own condition.
Influences: Javier Pérez has influenced me greatly. He makes me think of what a normal day object could become. With a little detail, I have learned that you can change the most basic thing into something very different. I have also learned that even the most different of things can be very closely related. Pérez has also taught me that a photo with only one piece of color can emphasize a point greatly. Along with all of this I have learned that art is not just drawing or painting. By Pérez using art in photography I have learned that there is so much more to art than just drawing and painting.
"Untitled (Grumpy)" & "The Old Man": One difference between mine and Pérez's photo is that out background colors are different. My object also looks a bit different in shape and color. Although, we did use the same object (wire cutters). My lines are also a bit thicker and darker. Even though I free-handed my drawings they still look like his. My man has the same facial expression and feature's as Pérez's. My man is also skinnier than his.
"Untitled (Stapler)" & "Monster": We both used different types of staplers in our photos. In Pérez's photo the background is a lot more yellow while my background color is a lot more red. My photo also had to be taken from a lower angle, because that was the only way to be able to see all the detail. Our drawings are also very similar. Mine is a little off, because I did free-hand it. Both of ours still have the same meaning. It still looks scary and has the same amount of drips and shading.
"Untitled (Coat)" & "Penny Man": My penny is from 2000 while Pérez's is from 2012. My penny also looks more shinny. The man also has slight differences on the penny. My drawing is also slightly different, because I free-handed it. My shadow also goes a different way. Both of our drawings still match up with the guy neck on the penny. My drawing still has the same number of shading marks as his. My man is also wearing a coat just like Pérez's man.
Personal Artist Statement: All of my photos only have one object that stands out. I think this gives a lot of emphasis on that object. It also makes people realize how quickly a wire cutter cane become a torso and legs, how a paper clip can become a trumpet, and how a stapler can become a mouth. I used framing to make sure that there was equal space around the drawing and object. I used contrast by having dark pen lines and light paper. I also like these images are very simple, but still look intriguing.