Jorge Peris (Alzira, 1969)
Jorge Peris is a Valencian artist whose work is developed primarily through installations and sculptures conceived in close relation to the spaces and territories in which they are presented. Currently based in Alzira (Valencia), his practice has been shaped by the places where he has lived and worked, as well as by his close observation of their landscapes and the relationships established with the communities that inhabit them.
After a period of working in Madrid, in 2011 he moved his studio to El Palmar, in the Albufera Natural Park. During the years he lived there, the landscape of this ancient island—shaped by the proximity of water, sedimentation and the passage of time—had a decisive influence on his work. His experience of El Palmar reinforced his interest in found materials, residues, the remains of ancient and contemporary architecture, and the forms of life associated with a particular territory.
Peris works with salt, water, sand, algae, wood, metal, organic matter and stone. He does not treat these materials as inert supports: he recovers, combines and subjects them to processes in which their physical properties, time, chance and transformation all play a role. Found stones occupy a particular place in his work; removed from their usual context, they retain the memory of their origin and enter into new relationships with other elements, generating new meanings.
This experimental dimension has led the artist to collaborate with biologists, physicists and even psychologists in the development of his research. His installations frequently transform the exhibition space into something resembling a laboratory, where matter, knowledge and perception intersect. In his work, architecture ceases to be merely a container and becomes an active part of the experience.
Throughout his career, Peris has developed a significant international presence, particularly in Italy, and has presented solo exhibitions and projects in cities across Europe and the United States. His exhibitions include Micro, Aureo, Adela at MACRO, Rome (2010); Aladas Almas at La Conservera Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, Ceutí, Murcia (2011); Tamaris at the Musée du Château des Ducs de Wurtemberg, Montbéliard (2012); Dolmen, Sinfonia nr. 7 at Magazzino, Rome (2015); and Dark Man a lomos del pájaro de fuego at IVAM, Valencia (2020).
His work is held in public and private collections, including those of MAXXI, Rome; Fondazione Antinori, Florence; Fondazione Giuliani, Rome; Bombas Gens, Valencia; INELCOM; and the Art Contemporani de la Generalitat Valenciana collection, among others.
With Fuente Citrus Deliciosa, donated to Todolí Citrus Fundació, Jorge Peris establishes a direct connection with the citrus landscape of El Bartolí. The work incorporates stones from the estate itself, some of them former boundary markers that once separated the individual plots before they were integrated into the present botanical garden. When the land was brought together as a single unit, these stones lost their original function as markers of division; Peris recovers them and places them in a new context, restoring their presence and identity. The fountain takes its name from Citrus deliciosa, an intensely aromatic mandarin, and creates a dialogue between the memory of the land, the processes of landscape transformation and the Foundation’s living citrus collection.
