Looking at his work, Perez's portraits of women in particular express an emotion and poignancy that often escape other images of women today, particularly in magazines and advertisements. I was surprised to find out that the majority of his female subjects are prostitutes from his father's three brothels. This made me admire his work even more, because I could in his paintings the respect that he has for women who so rarely receive any. In each portrait, there is a sense of confidence and command exuding from the woman that, translated through Perez's artist's (and male) gaze, is at once refreshing and real. In this project, I take a brief look at Fabian Perez's dramatic and culturally enriched life so far. The main body of my research concerns Perez as an artist among other great artists such as Degas and Manet who have looked at prostitutes for inspiration and study. I also explore how prostitution and art function through what we've learned about semiotics and psychoanalysis. Finally, I look at art from the woman's perspective, using feminist theory and personal reactions to this artwork to fuel my analysis. Through this project, I hope to bring light to the various emotional ways in which prostitution is represented in both Perez's and others' paintings.
Click on each link to discover different aspects of this analysis:
Art, and Influences |
and Other Artists |
and Perez |
and Art |
a class taught by Bob Bednar in the Communication Studies Department at Southwestern University