September Issue 2001
The Interview
Arts Council gallery coordinator, Gina Gartner, sat down with Perz to discuss cows, communities, and the making of art.
Gartner: Of the over 300 fiberglass bovines that Chicago created for "Cows on Parade," yours has a special place in Beaufort's creative community. It arrived as a celebrated public art animal, met with terrible vandalism, then was reborn anew through community spirit and epic local creativity. Was watching "Merci Henri's" saga unfold, from your home and studio in Chicago, anything like watching a child grow up in unexpected ways?
Perz: Right after I complete a piece it is always my favorite. After a while another idea comes along and by the time that favorite piece moves "out into the world" I have usually let go of it emotionally. That was true of "Merci Henri" when she went away to Beaufort for "Cows on Vacation". I can't say that I have ever gotten to that stage with my two adult children.
It is true that "Merci Henri's" journey took some totally unpredictable turns. Although I was very sad to hear it had been burned, the response from the people of Beaufort more than made up for the vandalism. Because I had included my e-mail address on the side of "Merci," I received messages of apology from residents and students in the Lowcoutnry. Later I received letters and before-and-after photos, and it was very touching. What started out as an art project turned out to be a real journey for me, including this exhibition and trip to Beaufort-which will be my first visit to the Lowcountry.
Gartner: You have created public art projects, and work for public spaces, as well as very fine gallery objects. How are the two different, and how do you approach the creative process.
Perz: The biggest difference I guess is that during the planning stages I consider the viewing public - and I attempt to guess who they might be. I try to predict their reactions and what response I might like my public work to provoke. With my other work I don't typically think much about those things until after the piece is completed.
With the cow, laughter and playfulness were the elements that initially attracted me. "Cows on Parade" was art that is fun and funny! I don't see much of that in the art world nowadays, but I clearly recall my delight in the 60's when I "discovered" the work of Claes Oldenburg. I laughed out loud in a NY museum that was exhibiting several of his over-sized pop-sickles covered in fake animal fur. Imagine licking one of those.
I assumed that most of the people who saw the cow would probably not be regular gallery and museum-goers, and besides, there are far too few of those people around. So maybe, I thought, the cow could be fashioned into an art ambassador.
After that it was an easy jump for me to Matisse. I drew on the famous cut-outs, and specifically his book "Jazz," which links the visuals to the city of Chicago.
Gartner: While you are in Beaufort, the Arts Council has arranged for you to visit several art classes and talk to both students and educators. What will your discussions in our local schools entail?
Perz: On this trip I'm more or less picking up where "Merci Henri" left off. My hope is that talking with the students about making art will interest some of them enough that they will pursue it on their own. Art is about exploring, and I hope to describe my relationship with the art of Matisse, with color and ideas about visual communication.
Gartner: In your work, color is a device to break down the boundaries between sculpture and painting. Why has color become so important in your art?
Perz: I have an appetite for color in all its many guises. A red shiny car, red rocks in the Nevada desert, red-haired little girls, fire hydrants and maple leaves in autumn. Delicious colors are every place. Color is inseparable.
Gartner: Describe your creative process. Is color or form the primary motivation?
Perz: One of the things I enjoy most about making art is the physical, tactile pleasure of working with the materials. Manipulating the canvas is part of the process as much as baking bread involves mixing ingredients, kneading dough and shaping it into loaves. For me, color decisions are dictated by how the piece "feels" to me - strong or quiet or fragile - elegant or primitive. I don't mix the final color, but start with an undercoat and adjust it with glazes of other colors until I feel that the form and color are one.
Gartner: Which artists' work do you most appreciate?
Perz: Whenever I go to New York I try and visit the Frick Museum to see the Vermeers. Then there's Milton Avery, and when I win the lottery I am going to purchase one of his paintings. Avery painted wonderful New England landscapes and seashores in colors that are not "natural." In my opinion, however, he has managed to evoke the essence of sand, sun and salt water more sensually than many more representational artists. Avery also painted some lovely portraits of women deep in conversation that I particularly appreciate, since the women are not simply portrayed as beautiful objects - as they so often are.
Three other lottery purchases, should I strike it rich, will be a Debra Butterfield horse sculpture, Japanese woodblock prints and an Agnes Martin painting. I do think Agnes Martin's work has influenced me, as have the paintings of Robert Mangold, Ellsworth Kelly and, to a lesser degree, Sean Scully. In the work of these painters, I sense a sculptural presence and a quality of relationship between form and color that I aspire to achieve in my work. I am also interested in Elizabeth Murray's painting/sculptures. I often go out of my way to see video installations, although it's harder to say they influence me.
Gartner: The Arts Council is very excited to be showing your exhibition, "Exploring Boundaries," and I think our community will really enjoy learning about your art and the relationship we have been building over the past few years. Thank you for your generous spirit and for the creativity you have given to the Lowcoutnry.
Perz: Thank you too. I am truly looking forward to being in Beaufort, to visiting the schools, and to seeing the exhibition. Most of all, I am eager to meet the many folks who have contacted me and reached out from your community to mine.
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