kevin perez offers colourfully whimsical original art, acrylic paintings, design, and free webhosting. kevin shows and offers his paintings for sale at:
ispirato
2620 wilson blvd.
arlington, va 22201
phone: 703.875.8182
web: www.ispirato.com
kevinperez.com is:
inquiries about design (including, but not limited to: web, print, illustration, jewelry) or webhosting can be directed to:
inquiries(a)kevinperez.com Born in Southern California to a family of artists. His mother is a classically trained soprano of whose talents were completely absorbed by Kevin’s flamenco guitarist brother. His father, an industrial designer, passed down his talent of the visual arts to Kevin. He spent a lot of his childhood flipping through pages of Dad’s design annuals and swatch books. Started mimicking his father drawing, and soon developed an infatuation with the visual arts at an early age. His parents encouraged him with stacks of newsprint and bins of colored pencils. By age seven he was placed in a gifted minor program focused on the creative arts.
Although his early childhood was spent in Southern California, Kevin lived briefly in West Africa and finished secondary school in Northern Virginia (just outside of Washington D.C.). He returned to his hometown to study fine art/illustration, and then continued to Chicago to study light metal sculpture.
Kevin picked up freelance design work creating corporate identity and (in the early days of the internet) created hand-coded web pages for “new media” design firms. His passion for painting and illustration simmered while he paid the bills.
In the spring of 2001, he met Lilian, an artist who shared the same passion for painting as he. They partnered to open an art-focused boutique centered around their paintings and handmade objects from similar designers. They chose
ispirato, the Italian word meaning “to be inspired”, as a name for their shop. Their eye for colour and design quickly drew clients ranging from passers-by to interior designers nationwide.
Inspiration for their paintings is drawn from a joy of life, Kevin’s 11-year-old daughter
Kyra, and Lilian’s cute lop-eared bunny named Mocha. Main influences on their style come from mid-century artists and designers. They tend to always be looking over each other’s shoulder for ideas, and share similar, if not the same, palettes of colour.
Today, Kevin continues to manage
ispirato, paints continuously, and has recently completed an episode on
HGTV’s kidspace (designing a room for a young family with toddlers).
kevin has been focused on art since early childhood. his father, marcelino "john" perez keeps a large collection of kevin's drawings. kevin's first series of work was a numbered set of eight(8) 'hurricanes'. prismacolor colored pencils on paper. 18in x 24in. dated 1972 (approx). aside from being a collector of drawings and paintings by kevin perez, john perez, kevin's father was also a big influence on kevin's art education. growing up in the perez household, kevin and his brother, mike ('miguelito') perez, were exposed to art, design and artist's materials. mr. perez is also involved in the design industry. he currently is head designer at morasi, inc. in cerritos california. john perez graduated from art center in the 60's. in the height of bauhaus design. art center was a pioneer in the bauhaus educational movement. producing designers for the industrial community, directly influencing international aesthetic. as was in the early years of art center, is still true today. art center continues to influence international design aesthetic, impacting the public with futuristic automobile designs, innovative product and package design, and even fine art and illustration. the art community has undergone tremendous change over the years. stemming into the media arts and performance. art center focuses on form and function, as well as aesthetimc, specifically, pleasing aesthetic. the bauhaus tradition continues in art center's design. simplicity and function. rivaled in kevin perez' opinion, only by RISD (rhode island school of design). although students cannot dicern the differences between the two schools, the final product can confirm their theories. kevin's father's affiliation with the school prompted kevin perez to study art throughout his childhood. in elementary school, kevin perez was enrolled in the magnet program, mgm (mentally gifted minors). scoring high on an iq test and demonstrating artistic talents, drew attention to his gift as a student to the arts. continuing on to an experimental magnet school, whitney community learning center, kevin perez lost focus for a few short years, being distracted by the opposite gender.
during this time, kevin perez found himself exploring many avenues; bicycle motocross (bmx), surfing, tennis, clarinet, dungeons and dragons. anything and everything, outside of the creative process. so he thinks. in retrospect, the bmx gained him competition, the surfing gained him peace, the tennis honed his hand eye coordination, the clarinet honed his audible senses, and dungeons and dragons continued his fantasy imagination. as he always believes, he doesn't regret anything he has done. if he didn't experience what he has, kevin wouldn't be the person he is today. a few years in africa took him away from his friends, out of his element, and higher on the social chain. as a diplomatic community member, kevin perez was now in an elitist circle. or at least through the eyes of an american. switching education systems to a british school system, kevin perez found himself skipping a grade. going from seventh grade into form one. form one being equivelant to ninth grade, or freshman in high school by american standards. kevin also found himself drawn to art again in search of something familiar. his drawings drew from all those things that distracted him from his focus on art. including the opposite gender. kevin perez spent hours, days, even weeks, re-designing bmx components. frames, wheels, handlebars, brake systems, even tires. dungeons and dragons provided him with scenes to place these designs into. the harmony and peace of surfing brought the elements together. the tennis kept his hand steady. and the clarinet kept him focused on the art, while listening to tapes of popular american radio stations in california.