Ever since elementary school, Joseph Perez has wanted to be an artist.
Perez, a local artist who goes by the name “Sentrock,” is known for his b-boy dancing — a form of break dancing — and paintings that have been featured at various events in Phoenix.
He currently works as the community arts and culture liaison through AmeriCorps Public Allies, which has a partnership with ASU’s College of Public Programs.
His work has been featured in several ASU locations, including Fletcher Library on the West campus.
In the library’s current exhibition, Human Rights Meet Civil Rights, Perez and other young artists use their art to explore concepts, including when civil rights issues become human rights issues. The exhibition will be at the library until March 18.
Perez said the show expresses how people must see themselves as humans first.
“First you have to define yourself as a human and not let society or anyone else hold you back,” he said.
Two of his art pieces are on display: “Born with These” and “Bird City Saints.” Both are paintings that took negative circumstances from his life and show how he has grown from them.
“Born with These” is a portrait of a man with a web coming out of the corner of his eye. The painting represents the connection between Perez and his incarcerated father.
“Bird City Saint” is a bright color portrait of a skeleton with a bird’s nose that Perez painted after his cousin’s death.
Through his paintings Perez said he wanted people to see that anyone can overcome negative situations.
Judy Hillman-Butzine, co-director of the Cultural Arts Coalition, and her partner Melanie Ohm put on the exhibition. Hillman-Butzine said she knew including Perez in the Human Rights Meet Civil Rights exhibition was the right thing to do because of his passion.
“Some people are born to do certain work, and he was born to do this work,” she said. “It is in his soul.”
Hillman-Butzine also invited Perez to speak on Friday to South Mountain High School students and others who have their work on display.
She felt that Perez should be the keynote speaker because the students could connect with him.
“I had begun to see that this young man had multiple creative ways of expressing himself in a language that the youth of today could understand,” Hillman-Butzine said.
It was local artist Martin Moreno who inspired and mentored Perez when he was a young kid.
“I think that there was a few … things that drew me toward [art] — just being a really shy kid and allowing art to be my voice without actually having to speak, and then also going under the wing of the lead artist Martin Moreno who taught me a lot,” Perez said.
Perez knew he could be an artist after one of Moreno’s paintings, which Perez posed for, was featured in an exhibition. The experience was the driving force for him wanting to be a mentor to kids in his community.
“I thought that was really dope, … growing up knowing that I can do something that I wanted to do and just to be able to give that back in any way that I can, even if it’s on a small scale” Perez said.
His artist name “Sentrock” is a combination of his old graffiti signature “Sent” — from “heaven sent” — and a word that describes his hip-hop skills: “rock.”
Perez is a former ASU student who plans to return to the University to finish his degree in art history. He hopes to do more projects in his community and will continue to work with youth in the Phoenix area.
Malissa Geer, who works with Perez as the community engagement liaison through the College of Public Programs at ASU, sees his story as an example of how the arts create opportunity through higher education.
“He is a part of the fabric of ASU Downtown and he continues to make contributions to the community,” Geer said.
Reach the reporter at shurst2@asu.edu
