SARAH WALZER, FROM PERES PROJECTS, BERLIN & LOS ANGELES

Terence Koh, 2008, Courtesy Peres Projects, Berlin & Los Angeles.
Terence Koh, 2008, Courtesy Peres Projects,
Berlin & Los Angeles.

Peres Projects was founded in August 2002 in San Francisco to show the work of innovative international and US artists. In March 2003, the gallery relocated to the Chinatown district of Los Angeles. In September 2005, the gallery opened Peres Projects in Berlin. A project space curated by Terence Koh and Javier Peres entitled Asia Song Society (A.S.S.) opened in March 2006. The gallery focuses on young, emerging artists working in all mediums that present work that is challenging, experimental, and immediate.  Peres Projects produces artist catalogs, zines and artist books by artists in the program including but not limited to Dash Snow, Dean Sameshima, Kirstine Roepstorff, Dan Attoe, and Terence Koh. 

Javier Peres publishes a quarterly internationally distributed magazine entitled DADDY (edition of 2000), with guest editors who have included Franz West, Jonathon Meese, Kaye Doanchie, etc. Daddy is an image-based publication that is distributed internationally. 

Reem Fekri: Peres Projects has been part of many international art fairs, but all in the west - what attracts you this particular part of the Middle East?

Sarah Walzer: have also participated in Art Hong Kong but this is our first time expanding to the Middle East. We took this as an opportunity for more exposure and expanded contacts/client base.

RF: Anyone in particular that you are looking to meet?

SW: Curators of museums in the MENASA and collectors based in the MENASA.

RF: Which artists have you chosen to show at Art Dubai, and why do you think they will do particularly well?

SW: We will be showing artists including Terence Koh, avaf, Mark Flood and Antonio Ballester Moreno, that we feel will appeal to the aesthetic of the region. Koh is known on an international level and attracts a great deal of attention from curators, press and the general public. AVAF appeals to a broad range of people due to their community based collaborative works.  Flood (americana paintings/signs) and Moreno paintings) are more regional artists who we are looking to expand their exposure/markets.

RF: Have you noticed a rise in talent within Asia and the Middle East?

SW: Yes.

RF: Do you think that Peres Projects will eventually represent artists from the MENASA?

SW: Sure, I think as the markets expand and knowledge of eastern artists become more widely known and aesthetic diversity accepted, then there is always the possibility.

RF: What do you mean by the acceptance of aesthetic diversity? 

SW: Meaning a variance in what is visually recognized as significant. There seems to be a lack of aesthetic diversity at the moment in the western contemporary art world.  I think there is still a wide divide between contemporary art being created in the western and eastern world.


Website Design Agency - Webheads Interactive