Antonio Santín: Puente de Plata
The gallery is pleased to present new paintings by Antonio Santín (b. Madrid, 1978) , in his seventh one-person exhibition with the gallery.
Antonio Santín trained as a sculptor, and soon focused on painting which has become ever more tactile and sculptural. He began with figurative paintings however, as the dresses and room adornments such as the carpets became more central to the work, he left figuration. He then began borrowing exquisite carpets and outlining patterning, afterwards adding his own coloration and more patterning, building up layers of paint.
In the past two years as his technical skills allowed for far more detail than is found on a sewn carpet, he began to invent the entire image. This has freed him to make paintings that are more beautiful and intricate, and above all, personal.
The technical side, which is unique, has taken years to accomplish. Now paint applications measured in millimeters are applied with the assistance of compressors and needles. He builds layer upon layers hewing to his sculptural roots. To this he uses a renaissance technique of shading giving the works a sense of having folds.
Santín’s paintings align with abstraction in that each mark, tens of thousands per work, are all invented. They are his hand. I think of Joan Mitchell and Philip Guston. I think of Susan Rothenberg whose horses are there to create some structure for her mark-making.
The carpets are so clear and astonishing one might think the paintings align with realism, but they do not. There are no such carpets. Just as with the best abstract paintings, his touch has consistency. A close look at a painting by Antonio Santín reveals mark-making entirely his own. Yes, tiny, loopy and punctile, and unlike anything else. The incredible proficiency is in the service of works of great beauty and heart.”
—Marc Straus
Antonio Santín received his Fine Arts degree from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Anotati Scholi Kalon Technon at the Athens Fine Arts School. Santín has been included in numerous international museum exhibits including two solo shows at the Sharjah Art Museum. Exhibitions include the Knoxville Museum of Art, Tennessee; the Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, NY; Hudson Valley Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; the Ithra Museum, Saudi Arabia; the Farjam Foundation, Dubai, UAE; Kunstraum Bethanien, Berlin, Germany; the Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin, Germany, and upcoming at The Boca Raton Museum, Boca Raton, FL, and The Lehman College of Art, Bronx, NY His work is held in numerous museums and private collections internationally.
