Eugenia Perez del Toro

Eugenia Perez del Toro: Paintings

By Eugenia Perez del Toro | May, 2006

This exhibit honored the work of Alverno College and Sr. Dolores Brunner, for their dedication to the advancement of Latina women.

A native of Mexico City, Eugenia Pérez del Toro is a self-taught artist whose unique vision has garnered her international respect. Since 1996, her work has been exhibited in museums in Mexico City, Venice (Italy), Phoenix (Arizona), Washington D.C., Jerusalem, Havana, and elsewhere throughout the world. Gaos College of the University of the Americas acquired a large collection of her paintings and sculptures, which are now on permanent exhibit in The Eugenia Perez Room. From a distance, the modern paintings of Perez del Toro seem to be simple statements of gradation and form. Upon closer inspection, however, the "inner workings" of the painting come to immediate life. Fascinating details appear - crackled surfaces, uncountable layers of pigment, and masterfully rendered bits of realism. A diligent and detail-driven artist, Perez del Toro often uses the concepts of time and memory as inspiration. Rendered in an earthy palette of rich ochres and deep blues, the subjects range from open-ended, mysterious landscapes to everyday objects that would pass unnoticed by a less sensitive gaze, such as an old lock or an abandoned entrance. "I paint landscapes that have impregnated themselves in my mind," she observes, "and try to express the emotions and sensations that accompany them."