On Tuesday, November 3rd Tony Peralta hosted an artist talk at the Rolos & Icons exhibition. Close to 200 patrons showed up and gathered to get an inside look into the creative process and inspiration backing the "Rolos" exhibition.

Questions were provided and moderated by Vibe Magazine’s own Marjua G. Estevez. She touched on various topics regarding the pieces including the hows and whys of each piece on a meta level. Mr. Peralta answered questions regarding the exact reasoning behind each icon he chose to blow up and stretch onto canvas for the show including what each female means to him personally. Latino/a and specifically female empowerment were among the slew of themes addressed by Peralta during this Q&A session.

Through Ms. Estevez's questions Peralta was able to convey his thoughts on committing to artistry, “If you want to be an artist don’t treat it like a hobby, this is my life and I’m committed to it day in and day out.” He also touched on the importance of investing into yourself and sticking through the turbulence one faces in a career committed to art, “Don’t just pick up a brush one day and call yourself an artist; learn, fail and try again over and over it’s not suppose to be easy. If it was then everyone would be an artist.” Peralta went on to describe how critical his NY based lifestyle brand The Peralta Project has been in keeping his career as an artist afloat, “With my brand Peralta Project I’ve been able to finance my career as an artist, if it wasn’t for that I’d still have to be working a 9-5 as I did for 6 years into the inception of the brand."

The talk in itself lasted for about 45 minutes, once done the crowd stuck around for one last night of celebration in honor of the artist and the successes of his exhibit. The people determine your success in this marathon formally known as life, on this night they once again came out in support of Tony Peralta reminding us that his vision isn’t singular.

- Johnny Q.