English
Deutsch
until 30.07. | #0569ARTatBerlin | From 30th April 2016 ARNDT Berlin presents the exhibition “Distance between two points” by the artist Jose Santos III.
In Distance between two points, Jose Santos III, through his art, channels the remarkable attributes found in passage—of the movement that takes place between origin and destination. Here, via motif and design, the artist uncovers the most fundamental quality where most pathways spring forth: the line and its straightforward motion between two points, and consequently, in its manifestation through actual space, which is the road.
The road, in Jose Santos III’s current work, which is a combination of paintings, prints, found objects, and sculpture, acts as the consequence of all lines and the passages relegated to this most essential quality in drawing: the transit from point A to point B. Although this movement would always assume a linear stance, or a ‘linearity’ that would confine our viewing of the object as it forces us to traverse across its space from one point to another, it is an idea which Santos aims to revive. This linearity is a condition, which has been lost through the very loose and liberal nature of viewing almost all plastic arts that Santos has placed back into the equation. By shaping his canvases into elongated panels of paintings, stretching at a distance of almost five meters, images are connected from one end to another.
Long canvases are stretched out like a timelines, with imagery that can be viewed while progressing from one side to the next. From point A to point B. This allows for a kind of narrative to unfold through time. But is it really a story which the artist sets out to achieve? We look at the images from these paintings and what we see are objects strung together. Some are recognizable: as parts of walls, gates, and barriers—the kind usually found in the streets and old highways of Manila. There are also objects that seem to be part of torn-down houses or abandoned vehicles. As the viewer traverses across the length of the painting in transit, the images shift in a changing view akin to being on the road. The images transform into a caravan of objects that appear to travel with the audience.
The road, in Jose Santos’ practice signifies change. The orientation for viewing his paintings forces us to experience this changing view and thus, time becomes an essential element in this experience. As a result, we come closer to the activity of “reading” a painting; the same way a piece of literature unfolds through time. Although Santos’ paintings can be viewed from a single vantage point, their structure offers the possibility to plan one’s own journey—walking from our own prescribed origins: from left to right, from east to west.
In Distance between two points, the audience is not only presented with the idea of passage, whether through imagery or the arrangement of objects, but also encouraged to accommodate the act of traversing via engagement with Santos’ work. By drawing upon objects and materials sourced from urban environs commonly unassociated with high art, the space becomes transformed into points of departures and arrivals. Enlivening travel and movement, Santos metaphorically investigates the roads we take throughout our lives, and impressions and objects we accumulate along the way.
– Cocoy Lumbao, April 2016
CV
José Santos III was born in Manila, Philippines in 1970 where he currently lives and works. He received his BFA from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts where he also taught for several years. His early paintings have a “dreamlike” quality not for their subject but for their convincing veneer of naturalism, which comes into contradiction with our own real-life order. Santos’ narrative works reflect a strong cryptic iconography. Whether it’s about telling stories through his figurative paintings and drawings or tracing histories through his still life compositions in collage, painting, assemblage and installation works, their messages are oftentimes elusive and impenetrable, opening up possibilities for interpretation.
In his more recent works, Santos continues his explorations of objects not only to uncover their histories but more so to obscure our perception and understanding of these everyday things. In 2000, he was chosen as one of the Thirteen Artists Awardees by the Cultural Center of the Philippines. His works have been exhibited in Denmark, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangladesh and New York.
Vernissage: Friday, 29th April 2016, 6 – 9 p.m.
Exhibition period: Saturday, 30th April to Saturday, 30th July 2016
[maxbutton id=”25″]
Image caption: Jose Santos III, “Things we keep along the way” (2016), found objects, 9x 190.5 x 20.5 cm each, (detail views)
Exhibition Jose Santos III – ARNDT Berlin – Kunst in Berlin ART at Berlin
