Artists We Love :: M. Tony Peralta

M. Tony Peralta is one of those artists who captures the iconography in our every day lives and presents it back to us as beautiful works of art.  We recently met up with Tony at La Sala 78 a quaint coffee house in Washington Heights that not only serves Dominincan-grown, locally roasted coffee but also exhibits some of his artwork.

Tony’s work is one which Latinos living in the US can easily identify with. There is plenty of nostalgia and comfort that comes with seeing a Bustelo can or a series of Goya beans on the wall. Although we’ve seen this type of art before, it’s never had that Latino touch. During our meeting, Tony posed a question to us, “What if Andy Warhol were Latin?” We all laughed but then we quickly understood the relevance and significance of this type of work for our community. It is a simple way of validating our experience at a time when we still hear anti-immigrant rhetoric on prime-time TV.

Tony’s work doesn’t begin or end with these images. It is only one aspect of his burgeoning empire that has roots in fashion, graphics & silk screening. No te duermas, you might miss something!

* The Sound of Art organization is responsible for presenting art in non-traditional spaces to the community and represents artists like M. Tony Peralta.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 9:34 AM and is filed under FWL BLOG, VIDEO and tagged with andy warhol, art, bustelo, community, dj moni, friends we love, friendswelove.com, goya, images, la sala 78, latin art, M. Tony Peralta, mike vargas, moni pineda, nuyorktricity, production company, sound of art, Tony Peralta, video producers, web series, work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.