Victor Pérez-Rul (Born Mexico City 1983)
The work of Víctor Pérez-Rul is an ongoing and endless quest in which art arises as a complex mixture and influence of (retro)futurism and science fiction, living creatures (such as insects, plants, sea creatures and interdimensional beings), nature and landscape, classical and futuristic architecture, the cosmos and even subtle, and not so subtle, winks to pop culture (including Japanese anime, and electronic music among other things).
His solar sculptures, virtual sculptures and landscapes, experimental collaborative projects and large scale installations propose and explore multiple simultaneous ways of experiencing, perceiving and imagining the universe, the energy and the complexity of life as a phenomenon that we might never understand completely. To do this, Pérez-Rul proposes the artwork as a device of convergence, the Tesseract (named by him after the 4th dimensional cube) where multiple times, realities, truths, fictions and fields of knowledge and culture can coexist and give birth to an experience that is hard to access, if not impossible, by other means alone.
Through his artistic and creative quest Victor pretends to achieve and share creative freedom and the beauty and excitement for the mysteries of life and the universe.
Victor’s background and curiosity includes a PhD in Arts and Design (2019), a Master’s degree in Art and Technology (2009), furniture, landscape, industrial and futures Design; being a professional DJ for about 10 years (2009-2020) and an incorrigible electronic music and soundscape enthusiast, being a Cyborg and part of the research team of Cyborgnest for about 4 years (this is an ongoing project, by the way). He is interested in culinary culture and expression, fashion, experimental architecture and landscaping, archeology, cosmology, Toltec philosophy, nahualism, lucid dreaming, and posthumanism (as set out by philosopher and artist Robert Pepperell).
STUDIO VICTOR PEREZ-RUL
Based in The Netherlands and with a showroom in Mexico, Studio Victor Pérez-Rul is an art studio globally working on the artistic research and quest for sharing the beauty and complex experience of the mysteries of our universe and life. The studio works with the ideas of energy and living beings as energy processing systems, explores the limits of what we consider alive, life as an interdimensional phenomenon and overlaps fiction and realities. SVPR mixes through contemporary art: installation, sculpture, environments, landscaping, architecture, object design, futurism, and technological reflection.
#tesseract
Studio Victor Pérez-Rul was created in order to forge a community of experts, enthusiasts and adventurers that help Victor to research, project, create and share his artwork and interests. It collaborates with futurists, technologists, artists, scientists, engineers and curators, looking to insert projects in spaces that articulate the artistic sphere with natural, outer, public, private and virtual spaces.
The studio is like a super organism that interchanges information, energy and matter with its ecosystem and exists as an entity that allows the imagination, visualization and materialization of a myriad of possible worlds.
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Soetsterberg, NL
KVK number 90195299
Some background:
After studying Design and Visual Arts at Ibero University in Mexico City (2007), Víctor Pérez-Rul got involved in art and technology studies at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Ultrech, in the Netherlands, with the support of the National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA, 2009-2010). During that year, he established his first studio in Hilversum (NL), where he began working with sound experimentation and multidisciplinary experimental collaboration.
In 2011, he re-established his studio at the same house in the Juarez neighborhood in Mexico City where the MARSO Foundation is housed. There, he began experimenting with the growth of materials as a manifestation of the relationship between energy, matter and living beings.
Thanks to curator Leslie Moody Castro, in 2016 Pérez-Rul carried out the PLACEHOLDER project, a multidisciplinary experimental collaboration and sentient solar installation that gave way to his collaboration with institutions such as the Visual Art Center at the Texas University in Austin, the Center for Latin American Visual Studies (CLAVIS, the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC), the Energy Institute at the University of Texas (UT), companies such as SOLARTEC, and associations such as ASOLMEX (Mexican Association for Photovoltaic Solar Energy). PLACEHOLDER was a supported project by the National Endowment for the Arts in the United States (NEA 2016), making it the first time in its history that the VAC has received such fund.
It was also in year 2016 when he was a finalist for the international prize Collide, awarded by the Art division (Arts at CERN) of the world’s most important nuclear laboratory today, CERN.
In 2017-2018, he collaborated with the London School of Economics research, directed by Raversbourne University, regarding the user experience of the first existing commercial artificial sense: North Sense by Cyborg Nest, having he himself experimented the transition into a cyborg through the integration with his body of the artificial sense of electronic orientation fabricated by Cyborg Nest.
Regarding futurism, cities and public space, SVPR stablished conversation with organizations like Futurologi, and the now extinct Laboratorio para la Ciudad (Laboratory for the City) in Mexico City, and in 2019 Victor joined the board of directors of the Land Art Generator Iniciative (LAGI), an organization that experiments and promotes the use of renewable energy generation technologies mixed with neo futuristic approaches to architecture and public space.
During 2018 SVPR had a brief stay at the Lagos studios and artistic residencies, and in 2019 it was inserted within the Centro de Futuros of the TEC institute as part of a series of experimental projects that aimed to fuse art, design and Mexican futures. In 2021 the studio was back at CDMX central area.
The work of Víctor Perez-Rul and his Studio has been showcased internationally in group and individual exhibitions and projects in the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, Italy, the United States and Mexico, as well as at official institutions, renowned art fairs, public and independent spaces. Some examples include the Unpainted Art Fair in Munich, the Visual Art Center at the University of Texas in Austin, the Southwest School of Art in San Antonio, Texas, the South by Southwest 2017 interactivity, film and media festival and the Imago Mundi Luciano Benetton Collection.
Pérez-Rul was awarded a doctorate in arts and design by the UNAM in 2019, and has lectured and talked at public and private institutions such as the Energy Institute (UT), the VAC (UT), the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC), Ibero-American University (IBERO), the Monterrey Institute of Technology (TEC), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM, Faculty of Arts and Design), the Autonomous University of Queretaro (UAQ), the University Museum of Contemporary Art (MUAC), Casa del Lago Juan José Arreola and the Laboratory of Art Alameda (LAA), among others.
SVPR
Residencies
2019, Centro de Futuros, Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, Toluca, Mexico
2018, Lagos Residencias Artísticas, Mexico City
2016, Visual Art Center (VAC) of the Texas University in Austin (UT), USA
2010, Stichting Magdalena, Hilversum, The Netherlands
Awards
2016, Finalist of the worldwide competition for the Collide International Award, granted by the European
Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Switzerland
Selection of Exhibitions
- Solo
2020
La Ciudad de los Inmortales (The City of the Immortal) @Casa del Lago (en casa), Mexico, Virtual Exhibition. Curated by Cynthia García Leyva
2019
Open Studio #1 and Open Studio #2 @ Studio Victor Pérez-Rul, Mexico City.
2018
Experimento #34 @Centro Cultural Bernardo Quintana, Querétaro, Mexico. Curated by Gabriela Martínez
2017
Especimen(es) @Espacio Arterial, Mexico City, Mexico. Curated by Dante Herrera and Karen Huber
The Odds @Southwest School of Art, San Antonio Texas, USA. Curated by Mary Mikel Stump
Exoskeleton (permanent public sculpture) @Emma Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Centre (MACC),
Austin Texas, USA
2016
Placeholder @Texas University Visual Art Centre, Austin Texas, USA. Curated by Leslie Moody Castro
2012
Kilómetros de Vapor (sound performance) @Laboratorio de Arte Alameda, Mexico City, Mexico
2011
Kilómetros de Vapor (sound performance) @Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, Mexico City, Mexico
- Group
2022
The problem is, a human is only this big @Yeah Totally LTD & Way Out East Gallery, London, UK. Curated by Keef Winter and Naiden Hadjiev
2021
Tiempo Compartido @Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Palmera Ardiendo, Ciudad de México, México. Curated by Helena Lugo
Exoskeleton 1.2, Ella está de viaje @El delirante Orden de las Cosas, Palmera Ardiendo, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México. Curated by Helena Lugo
2020
Spaceships @OFFsite Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico. Curated by Karen Huber and Jeanette Millán
2019
The Arrival @Mexifuturismos, Museo del Tec, Puebla, Mexico. Curated by Ignacio Tovar
The Arrival @Singularity Summit Mexico, Mexico
Exoskeleton 1.2 @Akamba festival, Mexico
Exoskeleton 1.2 @Bahidora festival, Mexico
Weird Fishes @Modern Love Project, Mexico City, Mexico
2018
The Odds II: Misapropriated Planet @No Bienal, San José, Costa Rica
Esto es ahora @Morton Subastas, Mexico. Curated by Odette Paz.
Salón Acme @Mexico City, Mexico. Curated by Alvaro Ugarte and Zazil Barba.
2017
Salón Acme @Mexico City, Mexico. Curated by Alvaro Ugarte and Zazil Barba.
2016
Emerging Artists from Mexico @ Art Legacy, San Antonio Texas, EUA
Machemoodus @Patio 77, Mexico City, Mexico. Curated by Leslie Moody Castro and Beatríz Hernández
Nudo Interior @Art Cage, Mexico City, Mexico
2015
Metanarrativas @Galería Andrea Pozzo, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico. Curated by
Christopher Martínez
Arte a domicilio @Art Cage, Mexico City, Mexico
Pink Art Fair – Neon Rex Project booth @Seoul, Korea. Curated by Christopher Martínez
Mexico: The Future Is Unwritten @Fondazione Cini, Imago Mundi, Venice, Italy. Curated by Barbara Perea.
2014
Extrapolación del Lenguaje @Galería Karen Huber, Mexico City, Mexico. Curated by Karen Huber.
Visible Invisibilización @Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Morelia, Morelia, Mexico. Curated by Gabriela
Martínez and Said Dokins
Privacy Agreement – Neon Rex Project @White Cremnitz Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico. Curated by
Christopher Martínez.
Artwalk México @Mexico City, Mexico. Curated by Christopher Martínez.
Juntamos mundos @Patio 77, Mexico City, Mexico. Curated by Leslie Moody Castro and Beatríz
Hernández.
Unpainted Art Fair – Neon Rex Project @Munich, Germany. Curated by Christopher Martínez.
2013
Renaciendo de las Cenizas @White Spider Project, Mexico City, Mexico. Curated by Karen Huber
Visible Invisibilización @Museo de la Ciudad de Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico. Curated by Gabriela
Martínez and Said Dokins
UTOPIA @Museo de la Ciudad de México, Mexico City, Mexico. Curated by Ingrid Carraro, Eunice
González and Victor Pérez-Rul
Sing Sweet Songs of Conviction Mexico @Mexico City, Mexico
Affordable Art Fair – Young emerging talent selection @Mexico City, Mexico
Salón Acme @Mexico City, Mexico. Curated by Regina Pozo, Alvaro Ugarte and Zazil Barba.
2012
All we have is time @White Spider Project, Mexico City, Mexico. Curated by Karen Huber.
Cadáver Exquisito @White Spider Project, Mexico City, Mexico. Curated by Karen Huber.
2010
Motherboard @ISM Gallery, Hilversum, The Netherlands
PATTERNS @Melkfabriek, Hilversum, The Netherlands. Curated by Arne Boon and Victor Pérez-Rul
2009
HOMEOSTASIS @Crossing Border Festival, Den Hague, The Netherlands
Selection of Talks and Panel discussions
2020, Sobre La Ciudad de los Inmortales @ Casa del Lago Virtual. Curated by Cinthya García Leyva, CDMX, Mexico
2020, Arte y Energía: Visualizar y Realizar Futuros Energéticos @ MIREC WEEK 2020 (Mexico's International Renewable Energy Congress & Expo), CDMX, Mexico
2019, Realidades extendidas @ Congreso de Futuros, Tec, Toluca, Mexico
2019, Arte, energía y prospección @ MIREC WEEK 2019 (Mexico's International Renewable Energy Congress & Expo), CDMX, Mexico
2018, Experimento #34, @ Centro Cultural Bernardo Quintana, Querétaro, Mexico
2018, Moderator of the Cultural panel with Betsabee Romero @ Casa México, South by Southwest festival
2018, Austin, Texas, USA
2016, PLACEHOLDER @ Energy Institute, Texas University (UT), Austin, USA
2015, Acción e inmersión, narrativa y experiencia @ 10° Congreso Internacional de Museos CIM (10th
International Museum Congress), MUAC, Mexico City.
2014, Cristal: materia, energía, conciencia (crystal: matter, energy, consciousness) @ 2° Encuentro
Internacional de Arte Sonoro y Exploración Audiovisual (2nd Sound Art and Audiovisual Exploration
International Encounter), UNAM, México
2014, Visible Invisibilización @ Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Morelia Alfredo Zalce (MACAZ),
Morelia, Mexico
2013 – 2011, Experimental creativity for multidisciplinary BA groups@ Universidad Iberoamericana,
Mexico
2013, PATTERNS: experimental creativity and teamwork @ 9° Simposio Internacional del Posgrado en
Artes y Diseño ENAP – UNAM (9th Arts and design postgraduate international symposia), Mexico
2013, dilusión | radiación (soundscape from underage offenders) @ Centro Cultural de España, Mexico
2013, La explosión, el abismo, el demonio @ Taller multinacional, Mexico 2013
2011, PECHA KUCHA: PATTERNS, art and public space @ Telmex Hub Puebla, Mexico
Grants and Scholarships
2016, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), USA, (awarded together with the Texas University (UT)
Visual Art Center (VAC) –first time awarded with this fund-, in collaboration with the Energy Institute, the
Center for Latin American Visual Studies (CLAVIS) and the Emma Barrientos Mexican American Cultural
Center (MACC)
2013, Facultad de Artes y Diseño PhD grant, awarded by the FONCA-CONACYT (Culture and Arts
National Fund - Science and Technology National Council), Mexico
2009, Programa de Becas para Estudios en el Extrangero (Abroad Studies Grant Program). Granted by
the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (National Fund for Arts and Culture, FONCA), Mexico
Selection of Published Catalogues
2018 Esto es ahora, Edited and published by MortonSubastas
2017 Conflict of Interest Volume 2. Edited and published by Rebecca Marino and Thao Votang with the
support of the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Autin Economic Development Department.
2016 Pink Art Fair, Edited and published by Pink Art Fair
2015 Mexico: The future is unwritten, Edited by Imago Mundi Luciano Benetton Collection and published
by Fabrica, Italy
Selection of Radio Publications
2018, Convoy Network (internet radio), Cubo Expositivo with Begoña Irazabal (Mexico)
2013, Ibero 90.9 DfM, Agustín Peña. Interview about Utopia exhibition (Mexico)
2011, Ibero 90.9, Ooko, Agustín Peña (México)
2011, Ibero 90.9, DfM, Agustín Peña. Interview about Kilómetros de Vapor sound performance (Mexico)
