Artist Tackles Issues of Race and Beauty in New Exhibit

Artist Tackles Issues of Race and Beauty in New Exhibit

August 5, 2011 7:28am | By Olivia Scheck, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

Artist M. Tony Peralta, raised in Washington Heights, now lives in Inwood. (Susana Cardona)

MANHATTAN — A popular t-shirt designer and Upper Manhattan native is setting his sights on the fine art world, exploring issues of race and beauty in a new exhibit at the Northern Manhattan Art Alliance (NoMAA).

M. Tony Peralta, 37, whose "Peralta Project" t-shirts have been worn by rap stars including P. Diddy, Sean Kingston and T-Pain, said he was inspired by baseball star Sammy Sosa's dramatic physical transformation — which led to rumors of skin lightening.

The result is his new exhibit, called "Complejo" (meaning "Complex") which opened at NoMAA Thursday night.

Some of the images in the collection use pictures of Sosa, placing the Dominican sports icon in advertisements for fictional products like "Black 'B' Gone Skin Lightening Cream."

"What makes a man who's already rich and famous go and change his look like that?" Peralta asked, describing the piece. "What kind of issues does he have?"

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20110805/washington-heights-inwood/artist-tackles-issues-of-race-beauty-new-exhibit?utm_content=blackcotton212%40gmail.com&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Artist%20Tackles%20Issues%20of%20Race%20and%20Beauty%20in%20New%20Exhibit&utm_campaign=NYPD%20Owes%20%241M%20in%20Unpaid%20Tickets%20%E2%80%94%20And%20Can%27t%20Register%20Scofflaw%20Carscontent#ixzz1UBsaJBr0