José Pérez Sanleón

JOSÉ PÉREZ SANLEÓN (Catarroja, Valencia, 1953).
Untitled, 1999.
Oil on aluminum.
Provenance: Important Spanish Collection.
Measurements: 27 x 41 cm.
Over the years, the work of José Pérez has undergone an evolution from lyrical abstraction to conceptual art. In his most recent works, which show a greater intervention of chance, he uses new materials, such as iron sheets. With a style that shows a great predilection for color and finishes on the support, he emphasizes the expressionist gesture, profuse and rich in matter, often applied to figurative themes.
One of the most important abstract artists in the renewal of the Valencian and Spanish art scene in the eighties, José Sanleón began his career in the seventies, and in 1978 and 1979 he was one of the first winners of the Bancaja Painting Prize, in what was then known as the Spring Salon. That same year, 1979, he participated in the exhibition "Perspectiva 80", and in 1986 he was part of the collective "Plástica valenciana contemporánea". That same year he held an outstanding exhibition in Paris, at the Antiope France gallery, and in 1995 he exhibited at the Valencian gallery Parpalló. Mainly a painter but also a sculptor, Sanleón has carried out projects in the latter field, such as the sculptural installation at the main entrance of the Lauria building in Valencia (2008). In 2007 an important retrospective exhibition was dedicated to him at the IVAM in Valencia, an institution that will dedicate another exhibition to him in 2010. Two years later, in 2012, the Bancaja Foundation held an extensive exhibition of his recent work. Sanleón is currently represented in the IVAM in Valencia, the Bancaja Foundation, the Argentaria and other collections, both public and private.