LA | Santiago Perez: The Brutalist, the Beauty, and UFOs

(SANTA MONICA) Nüart Gallery is pleased to present “The Brutalist, the Beauty, and UFOs,” a solo exhibition of new work by Santiago Perez, running from September 20th, 2025 through October 11th, 2025, with an opening reception on Saturday, September 20th, from 4:00 - 6:00 pm.

Santiago Pérez: The Brutalist, the Beauty, and UFOs

Santiago Pérez’s newest series marks a striking stylistic evolution, distilling his expansive narrative worlds into a bold, graphic visual language. Flattened planes of color, dynamic compositions, and architectural geometries frame his cast of recurring characters: Mergatroid, the enigmatic Brutalist architect; Detective Anna, a Victorian-era spiritualist; and Inspector Platonovich of Zatonsk. UFOs hover over dreamlike landscapes, flamingos tumble through surreal skies, and the drama unfolds along the edges of stark concrete platforms. These pared-down, two-dimensional spaces heighten psychological suspense, while cinematic references—from Tarot archetypes to 1970s sci-fi—anchor Pérez’s allegorical storytelling firmly in contemporary culture.

As in his earlier works, Pérez continues to develop Fantômas, a narrative universe populated by recurring figures who function like characters in folklore. In this new series, every gesture feels charged with meaning, and Brutalist architecture, Victorian mysticism, and surrealist humor converge to reflect modern uncertainty and transformation. “Everyone is going off the edge of the rampart,” Pérez writes. “Certainly change is happening, for good or bad, and it is here.”

Born in Texas and now based in New Mexico, Santiago Pérez is celebrated for paintings that fuse fairy-tale imagination, absurdist humor, and intellectual rigor. His work has been widely exhibited and is represented in the collections of the Albuquerque Museum, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, and numerous private and corporate collections.