Ben Brown Fine Arts Hong Kong are presenting a new exhibition of Puerto-Rican American artist Enoc Perez – “Chances are You’ll Like it All Ways”. Comprising Perez’s recent series of oil paintings of Bacardi rum and Moutai baijiu bottles and cocktails, these works capture the seductive allure often seen in liquor ads. Packed with sensory richness, these works examine the deceptive enticement and lasting appeal of consumer culture, while also celebrating art’s potential for pure beauty and enjoyment. They also tell the artist’s personal journey, narrating a story of temptation, consumption, addiction and ultimately, his path to sobriety – a journey he has been on for over 17 years. CLOSER spoke with the artist on his visit to Hong Kong recently to open the exhibition.
Can you tell us a bit about your creative process, and your use of drawings and oil paint on canvas? What effect does this technique create in the final paintings?
I developed the technique I use to create my paintings because, as a young artist, I felt the need to paint in a way that made sense within the context of the city I had just moved to: New York. I adopted the methods of the painters who were important to me and whose work had motivated me to move there. These artists include Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Richard Prince, and Christopher Wool. What they have in common is the use of printmaking techniques in their painting process.
In response, I came up with my own handmade printmaking method to apply paint to canvas. It’s similar to carbon paper – I apply oil paint on the back of a sheet of paper, then place it on the canvas and draw images onto the paper, transferring the drawing onto the canvas one colour at a time. The result is a detailed transfer monotype, which becomes the painting itself, following in the tradition of those artists. It produces a flat surface and allows me to speak the visual language rooted in those progressive New York painters, helping me tell my story in a sort of NYC painting dialect.
The objects in this series are related to your own very personal journey to sobriety. What made you decide to focus on this topic at this time in your career?
I’ve been sober for 17 years now. When I first started these paintings, around 2002, I chose images that felt personal. At the time, I considered them self-portraits because I was drowning in alcohol, heartbroken and drunk. Eventually, I found love, and with the birth of my first son, I found the motivation to stop drinking – so I did.
After I became sober, I couldn’t make the paintings anymore because the images made me want to drink, and they no longer felt like me. But after turning 50, I began to reassess my work and realised these pieces were some of my favourites in my journey. I could now approach them intellectually, as the desire for alcohol no longer controlled me. These paintings are still lifes, much like a Morandi painting, and also Pop images that I still see as mine. The point now is to make them even better, because after working for many years, the biggest challenge as an artist is improving your own work. The images represent false promises – the men in the ads are handsome, wealthy, and have beautiful women by their side. For some, that’s possible, but for me, it just led to years of alcoholism. Yet I still love the images. Maybe that’s just me.
You have included two paintings of a Moutai bottle in this exhibition. Can you talk about why you decided to also include an image of this very famous Chinese liquor?
Yes, I did. One of the main reasons for including the Moutai bottles was to foster a sense of cross-cultural dialogue. By bringing such a well-known symbol of Chinese culture into my work, I hope to connect with the local audience in a way that goes beyond visual appreciation – it’s about creating a shared understanding. Moutai is deeply embedded in Chinese culture, much like rum is in Puerto Rican culture, and I wanted to explore how these objects can evoke similar feelings of nostalgia, identity, and even false promises, no matter where you are in the world.
At the same time, I appreciate the Moutai bottle as an aesthetic object. The bold, recognisable design – the colours, the label, the shape – carries its own visual language that speaks to both tradition and modernity. There’s a certain beauty in the way everyday objects like this can become iconic, transcending their practical use and entering the realm of art. That duality, where something is both a cultural symbol and a visually compelling object, fascinates me.
Perhaps someone in Hong Kong can look at the Moutai bottle the way I look at the rum bottles in my work – symbols that carry weight, promise, and memory, while also being beautiful in their own right. These objects allow us to have a conversation across cultures, connecting through shared experiences even if our specific stories are different. The beauty and cultural relevance of the Moutai bottle provide layers of meaning to the piece, making it not just an object to be admired, but a point of connection between my world and theirs.
Could you share with us a little about your journey to sobriety and what influenced you to choose this path?
Of course. I’m from Puerto Rico, a beautiful island that was originally a Spanish colony and is now part of the USA. Drinking rum is almost like a national sport – we drink a lot. I drank heavily, ruining friendships and making a fool of myself. I didn’t mind all of that until one day, while changing my eldest son Leo’s diaper, I nearly dropped him because I was so drunk. The next day, I called a psychiatrist. It turned out I had been self-medicating for a severe case of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Once I got the right treatment, everything changed for the better.
Advertising and pop art have long had a close relationship, and both can leave a strong impression. How do you feel about how art is often used to promote commercialism and consumerism and manipulate people’s behavior?
I think advertising exists solely to promote commercialism and consumerism – that’s its purpose. It’s a form of manipulation that has become ingrained in our identities as people. It works because the images themselves are seductive, and that’s where art plays a role. There’s no better way to capture attention than through seduction, and once you have people’s attention, you have a voice. That can be a powerful force for good – it’s a form of power. Advertising is everywhere, even when it seems like it’s not. Personally, I’ve become numb to it, but I appreciate it when it’s something beautiful. Poetry can emerge from the most unexpected places. That being said, I’d prefer life to resemble a Wong Kar Wai film – sublime.
What message or lasting impression do you hope visitors to this exhibition will take away with them?
I want people to realise that we all have more in common than we think. My goal is to seduce people with my paintings so they can experience the wonder of the everyday. I want them to see the beauty in the ordinary and understand that not everything is black and white – some things are grey, and that’s life.
You’ve never been to Macau and yet you have painted the Grand Lisboa Hotel. How did that come about and what do you think of it?
I painted it in 2017. I did it because I think the building is a masterpiece, perhaps not for architectural scholars, but I think it’s such a beautiful building. For me, more is more, and that’s part of the aesthetic of this architecture. I haven’t been to Macau, but I study architecture and I have a lot of books and I’d had my eye on that building for years. It’s an Asian masterpiece, but it has a lot of Las Vegas about it. It took me about two months to paint it. It has so many windows which activated the obsessive-compulsive in me, and it was also an opportunity to throw this feast of colours on the canvas. Next time I come to Hong Kong, I will definitely visit Macau to come and see it in person.
Enoc Perez – Chances are You’ll Like it All Ways
Exhibition dates: Until November 9
Venue: Ben Brown Fine Arts, 201, The Factory,
1 Yip Fat Street, Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong
