various photo credits: lex cuevas, owen zubek, maclin bilski, and jarrod anderson
Maxmillian Peralta is a painter from Cleveland, Ohio. His most recent work, instead of focusing only on one type of subject, alludes to an atmosphere of tension, insecurity, and fear experienced personally but also often collectively by his generation. The work takes the form of highly-exacting acrylic renderings of spaces: tense domestic spaces and impossible exterior spaces.
He received his BFA in Painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2021. His work has been exhibited at Pratt Institute in New York (NY), The Rhodes Tower in Columbus (OH), and CAN Triennial ‘22 in Cleveland (OH). His highest honors include a National American Visions’ Medal in 2017 with a painting of his accompanying the national “Art.Write.Now” Tour from 2017-2019. He was awarded the Anne Gund President’s Traveling Scholarship in 2021. He was also commissioned by LeBron James to paint the cover of the inaugural issue of his magazine The Program. Most recently, he was the recipient of the CAN Triennial Award Exhibition which resulted in work being shown in a solo exhibition at The Massillon Museum in summer of 2025.
He still resides in and works out of Cleveland.
Publications
The Satellite Fund, “Maxmillian Peralta - living Room”, August 2025
SpringHill Company, front cover, “The Program”, June 2022.
Amanda Koehn, front cover, “Who’s Next?”, Canvas Magazine, November 2021.
Aaron Leighton, “The Art of the Flex: A Study on Maxmillian Peralta.” Tykoon Magazine, 3 March 2021.
Awards
2025
Satellite Fund Recipient
2022
CARTA Purchase Prize
Massillon Museum CAN Triennial
Exhibition Prize
2021
Agnes Gund President’s Traveling Scholarship
2020
Ted Frost ‘88 Scholarship for Travel
2019
Frances Wise Lang and H. Jack Lang Scholarship for Painting
2018
Daniel H. Straffon Scholarship
2017
Scholastic Art and Writing Awards National American Visions Award
Sue Wall Painting Award
Select Exhibitions
2026
[upcoming] living Room, The Foundation Forge, a Satellite Fund Project
2025
Flat Affect, Studio M Massillon Museum, solo exhibition
Vessel City Artist Expo Pop-Up, Vessel City w/ Rump Studios
Love is Resistance, CMA Transformer Station
2024
CIA Alumni Show, Reinberger Gallery, curated by Magdalena Moskalewicz
2022
CAN Triennial 2022: You Are Here, Downtown Neighborhood (The Galleries at CSU & Bonfoey Gallery), curated by Darius Steward
2021
Postmodern Drip, Cleveland Institute of Art, BFA Thesis
2020
Ligne de Vêtements, Ann + Norman Roulet Student & Alumni Gallery, w/ Ethan Bowman