Nüart Gallery is pleased to announce two concurrent solo exhibitions at our Bergamot Station location in Santa Monica: The Brutalist, the Beauty, and UFOs by Santiago Pérez and Interwoven by Richard Berman. Pérez and Berman will come together for a joint artist talk on Saturday, September 20, from 3–4 pm, followed by an opening reception from 4–6 pm. These exhibitions highlight two distinct approaches to contemporary painting: Pérez’s narrative-driven, surrealist imagery brimming with humor and cinematic tension, and Berman’s meditative abstractions that invite a slower, contemplative engagement. Seen side by side, their work offers a rich dialogue between storytelling and restraint, theatricality and minimalism. Santiago Pérez: The Brutalist, the Beauty, and UFOs Santiago Pérez’s newest series marks a striking stylistic evolution, distilling his expansive narrative worlds into a bold, graphic visual language. Flattened planes of color, dynamic compositions, and architectural geometries frame his cast of recurring characters: Mergatroid, the enigmatic Brutalist architect; Detective Anna, a Victorian-era spiritualist; and Inspector Platonovich of Zatonsk. UFOs hover over dreamlike landscapes, flamingos tumble through surreal skies, and the drama unfolds along the edges of stark concrete platforms. These pared-down, two-dimensional spaces heighten psychological suspense, while cinematic references—from Tarot archetypes to 1970s sci-fi—anchor Pérez’s allegorical storytelling firmly in contemporary culture. As in his earlier works, Pérez continues to develop Fantômas, a narrative universe populated by recurring figures who function like characters in folklore. In this new series, every gesture feels charged with meaning, and Brutalist architecture, Victorian mysticism, and surrealist humor converge to reflect modern uncertainty and transformation. “Everyone is going off the edge of the rampart,” Pérez writes. “Certainly change is happening, for good or bad, and it is here.” Born in Texas and now based in New Mexico, Santiago Pérez is celebrated for paintings that fuse fairy-tale imagination, absurdist humor, and intellectual rigor. His work has been widely exhibited and is represented in the collections of the Albuquerque Museum, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, and numerous private and corporate collections. _____ Richard Berman: Interwoven Richard Berman’s Interweavings series continues his decades-long meditation on abstraction, expanding his practice with a set of painted collage panels that juxtapose imagery from Navajo chief blankets, 19th-century American flags, and aerial freeway views. These deeply layered works create a dialogue between centuries of visual history, cultural symbolism, and modern technological landscapes. Rather than dictating a narrative, Berman allows these juxtapositions to resonate, encouraging viewers to contemplate identity, expansion, and abstraction itself. Complementing these narrative-inflected works are Berman’s signature color field paintings, minimal yet rich in nuance. Tonal gradations and layered surfaces unfold slowly, rewarding patient observation. “My subject is mystery,” Berman says, emphasizing that his paintings are intended to evoke contemplation rather than conclusion. Whether weaving American history into visual collage or exploring pure abstraction, Interwoven demonstrates Berman’s mastery of restraint and sensitivity. Raised in Brooklyn, New York, Richard Berman attended the High School of Music and Art and Pratt Institute, where he studied under Philip Pearlstein, Milton Resnick, and Louise Bourgeois. He worked in exhibition design at the Metropolitan Museum of Art before relocating to Santa Fe in 1993, where he has maintained a dedicated studio practice. His paintings are represented in private and public collections nationwide. Image: Santiago Perez