Luis Santos is one of Manila’s most sought after young artists and possibly one of the most prolific at that. Last year saw a wildly successful solo outing for him called Measuring Distance at Silverlens Galleries in Makati. Coming from two consecutive years of being shortlisted for the Ateneo Art Awards, for 2014 and 2015 respectively, he is scheduled to have another solo exhibit, dubbed as Index, to add to his belt.
For this new exhibition to be held at Finale Art File in Makati, he continues to explore more possibilities and come up with paintings done on wood, silkscreen prints, and inkjet prints. As references for his work, Luis puts together a catalog of low-res images derived from books on art and natural history. As his way of “revising history,” he makes use of low-res images relating to memories and historical events.
Style Bible catches up with Luis to tell us more about his new solo show.
Why did you name the show “Index”?
I want to relay the idea of the works being part of some catalog of collective contradicting memories.
How is this different from your last solo show?
The two shows are completely different; the last one dealt with the idea of displacement and isolation, while this one deals with the temporal nature of memories.
For these paintings, why did you reference low-res images?
I liked the idea that low-res images have reduced or removed data.
Did anything influence your choice of images to use for this show?
I chose images that came from old books that dealt with different versions of histories.
How do you see yourself evolving as an artist?
I'd like to explore and experiment further with different materials and mediums.
Any future projects we should be looking forward to?
I will be joining West Gallery’s and Silverlens Gallery's booths at Art Fair Philippines this coming February. I also have two solo shows in July at West Gallery and MO Space.
Luis Santos’s “Index” runs from January 8 to 30 at the Finale Art File’s upstairs gallery in Warehouse 17, La Fuerza Compound, 2241 Chino Roces Ave., Makati City.
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