Don Perley began his career as an artist in 1975. Since then he has developed a unique voice and language that presents the joyous and healing messages he finds in the heart of untamed nature. In the early years, Don's work centered on experiments in acrylic painting and painted collages created from product packaging and other public advertising. By the year 2000, he evolved into two lines of development — painted assemblages created with diverse malleable materials and abstract oil paintings bursting with color.
Don is the recipient of several awards for painting in national juried competitions including best in show and best painting. He has had solo gallery shows in Philadelphia (Schmidt / Dean), the Hudson Valley (Albert Shahinian) and the New York City Chelsea gallery district (Pleiades). Don's work has appeared in numerous group shows in the New York area. A midwest native, Don lives and works in Stamford, Connecticut, USA.
These days I am just concerned with liberating color from the cruel tyranny of confinement in the tube!
INCLUDED IN COLLECTIONS
Guy Chipparoni, Res Publica Group, Chicago
​​Matthew Barrackman, Los Angeles
​Richard Holt, New York City
Lou Chen, Stamford
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SOLO SHOWS AND AWARDS
Solo show, Pleiades Gallery, NYC, 2022
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97th Annual Juried Exhibition, Greenwich Art Society. D. H. Griswold cash award for best painting - “Mirage,” 2014
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East End Arts, Riverhead, NY, 3rd Annual National Juried Art Competition - Best in Show, “Juju,” 2014, cash award and artist-in-residence
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Solo show, Albert Shahinian Fine Art, Rhinebeck NY, 2014
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Solo show, Albert Shahinian Fine Art, Poughkeepsie NY, 2004
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Solo show, Schmidt/Dean Gallery, Philadelphia, 1991
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SELECTIONS FROM JURIED COMPETITIONS
106th Annual Juried Exhibition, Greenwich Art Society - “Talisman,” 2023
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The Ridgefield Guild of Artists 43rd Annual Juried Show - “The Colorworks,” 2020
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SPECTRUM Exhibition, New Canaan Society for the Arts - “Wired,” 2018
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Flinn Gallery Juried Exhibition, Greenwich Art Society - “Forgotten Dreams,” 2016
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98th Annual Juried Exhibition, Greenwich Art Society - “Rough Sketch,” 2015
ARTIST STATEMENT
I believe in the artist as alchemist, transforming the brokenness of our world into something more precious than gold.
In my work, the raw and rough of chance improvisational encounters, upon close observation, become delicate, soothing, and healing. Secrets are revealed slowly over time, naturally jubilant and tender.
My work is improvisational, layered, and complex. The paintings have no center of focus - they push the eye from one passage to another on a journey of discovery. They draw the viewer into an exploration of the physical properties of paint and ink and media that deform to present their essence. To offer themselves up.
What I create are arenas in which colors and materials are free to playfully display their properties, combining in unplanned and joyous ways. My intention is not so much the creation of art, but more a search for spontaneous life springing out of improvisations in pure color.
This is a fundamentally exuberant enterprise, and I see it as direct painting, direct expression, and direct communication.