Dionisio Perkins, better known as Dennis Perkins, was a Cuban artist recognized as a key member of the early Cuban exile art community in South Florida.
18 Facts About Dionisio Perkins
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Dionisio Perkins Milian was born in Havana, Cuba in 1929 to an English father and Cuban mother.
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Dionisio Perkins career began in earnest in Havana during the late 1950s.
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In 1957 Dionisio Perkins participated in group shows at El Vedado's Lyceum.
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Later that year Dionisio Perkins took part in their Arte y Artesania exhibition and exhibited again at the Lyceum.
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Dionisio Perkins emigrated to the Miami area in 1960 and became part of the displaced Cuban diaspora.
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Dionisio Perkins resided in Coral Gables, Florida and would remain there the rest of his life.
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Dionisio Perkins continued his painting career as a member of the Cuban exile art community that had become especially prominent in South Florida culture and would grow to dominate its art scene thereafter.
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Dionisio Perkins, while reserved, would gradually emerge to become one of its more well-respected artists, participating regularly in exhibitions and winning multiple awards throughout his career, and continued painting until is death.
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Dionisio Perkins is associated with his close friends and fellow artists Lourdes Gomez-Franca and Miguel Jorge.
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Permuy would represent Dionisio Perkins often throughout his career and he was a regular guest at the Permuy House, along with Gomez Franca.
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Dionisio Perkins was regularly featured in the Permuy Gallery, one of the first Cuban art galleries in South Florida, through the 1970s and a frequented her influential Friday salon discussions, which continued to be held at the Permuy House for decades following the gallery period.
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Dionisio Perkins is identified generationally as part of the older wave within La Vieja Guardia of Cuban art that followed the Vanguardia movement and his style reflected their influence.
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Dionisio Perkins's subjects were usually women or Cuban-inspired scenes, such as cityscapes and landscapes, with color always prominently on display.
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In 1959 Dionisio Perkins won the prestigious Premio Guerlain at the Museo Nacional's Arte y Artesania exhibition.
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Dionisio Perkins won an honorable mention at the Miami Public Library System's Cuban art exhibition of 1970.
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Dionisio Perkins had exhibited in the Miami Museum of Science and had been commissioned by Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York, one of his high-profile clients, to produce a series focused on the Stations of the Cross.
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Dionisio Perkins was featured on American and Latin American art journals and American art magazines such as Art in America and Arts Magazine.