unpainted
gS
Gerry Santora
new works 2012
Bio: Born 1965, Bellerose, NY BUS w/emphasis in painting, 1989, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque 1 year/BFA program, 1991, University of Illinois, Chicago Exhibitions: ASA Gallery, Albuquerque NM, 1988 Group Show: Painting ASA Gallery, Albuquerque, NM, 1989 Featured Show: Painting Crown Gallery, Albuquerque, NM, 1990 Solo Show: Painting Pilsen East Art Walk, Chicago, IL 1990 Painting Pilsen East Art Walk, Chicago, IL 1991 Painting: Featured University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1991 Primary show/Lecture: Painting Lorenzo Rodriguez Gallery, Chicago, IL, 1992 Featured Show One of A Kind Show; Chicago, IL 2012: Mixed Media Paintings Projekt30; Online Show; 03/2013: Mixed Media Paintings Professional: Soupcan, Inc., Creative Director, 1992-present Steelskin, Inc., Creative Director, 2006-present Ecourban Collection, Creative Director, 2009-present Press: Daily Lobo, Featured Show Review, 1989 Chicago Tribune, Pilsen Art Walk Featured Artist, 1991 Chicago Tribune, Featured Article, 01/21/2011
Artist Statement: Somewhere along the way, I ended up in a photography class at the University of New Mexico. I had started university life as a chemistry student thinking I would one day become a doctor. My closest brush with such a fate was washing thousands of test tubes while working as an assistant in the immunology labs. For me, photography was this amazing hybrid process. Part art, part chemistry, it was an appealing solution to my career and identity dilemma. It fed my appetite for the mechanical and technical that had dominated my life up to that point, while introducing me to an entirely new world of art, art history, and criticism. As I matured as an image maker, my work always resided in an area somewhere between photography and painting. I used photographs to render paintings that were luminous and scarce; isolated figures engulfed in space and light; personal allegories. These were back in the 1980’s when computers and digital images were still years away from becoming a reality. I worked with slides, projectors, and whatever else I could get my hands on to create images and paintings. This hybridization of process would become a cornerstone of, not only my image making processes, but my career as a creative director for a custom manufacturer that specialized in alternative materials and material combinations. In 1993, I stepped away from image making to become the creative director, and founder of Soupcan , Inc. I’m asked on occasion why I gave up making art, but I never felt that I did. I feel that it morphed into yet another process and opportunity that I was very comfortable with for almost 20 years. It prepared me for my future image making endeavors by introducing me to the computer, CAD, and automated machinery for production purposes which I have come to embrace. My current work still uses photography as a base, or starting point, substituting alternative printing methods such as gelatin transfers, and digital mixed media in lieu of straight painting alone. I very much look at these images as paintings. To me, a painting is much more about how I approach the image then it is about the raw execution, something that was reinforced for me through a serendipitous visit to MOCA: “Phantom Limb: Approaches To Painting Today” before I started this new body of work. (http://www.mcachicago.org/exhibitions/past/2012/295) Allegory still plays a central role in the approach of most of my work. Numbers, statistics, and formulas play a prominent role in the new work either through personal numerological references, or a formula based dialect or clue that creates counterpoint or irony in many of the images. Layering and blurring of visual components helps to flatten and meld the overall spatial quality, and when paired with the abraded figures, the effect is one of flux, not a moment captured in time. Ideally, the effect is a more contemplative one rather than striking an ultimatum or providing a static solution.
Cause & Effect Series
The Square Root of 2 Digital/Mixed Media Print 65.6 in x 41.5 in. X 3 in. (Framed) Limited Edition of 10 Prints
¥ 6 ¥ 6 ¥ 6 ¥ Isn’t It Pretty To Think So Digital/Mixed Media Print 48 in x 24 in. X 3 in. (Framed) Limited Edition of 10 Prints
Yin Yang Digital/Mixed Media Print 73.5 in x 33.5 in. X 3 in. (Framed) Limited Edition of 10 Prints
The Guassian Copula Digital/Mixed Media Print 24 in x 42 in. X 3 in. (Framed) Limited Edition of 10 Prints
Erstwhile Digital/Mixed Media Print 23.5 in x 13.5 in. X 2 in. (Framed) Limited Edition of 30 Prints
unpaintedworks@gmail.com
Memory Series
Memory 1: Phone Digital/Mixed Media Print 14.5 in x19.5 in. X 2 in. (Framed) Limited Edition of 30 Prints
Memory 2: School Digital/Mixed Media Print 14.5 in x19.5 in. X 2 in. (Framed) Limited Edition of 30 Prints
Memory 1: Streetlight Digital/Mixed Media Print 14.5 in x19.5 in. X 2 in. (Framed) Limited Edition of 30 Prints
Memory 4: Winter Digital/Mixed Media Print 14.5 in x19.5 in. X 2 in. (Framed) Limited Edition of 30 Prints
Memory 5: Window Digital/Mixed Media Print 14.5 in x19.5 in. X 2 in. (Framed) Limited Edition of 30 Prints
Memory 6: Bells Digital/Mixed Media Print 14.5 in x19.5 in. X 2 in. (Framed) Limited Edition of 30 Prints
unpaintedworks@gmail.com
Appropriated History Series
Moving Target Gelatin Transfer Print 7.5 in x7.5 in. X .75 in. (Mounted) Limited Edition of 100 Prints
6 Windows Gelatin Transfer Print 7.5 in x7.5 in. X .75 in. (Mounted) Limited Edition of 100 Prints
Dispenser Gelatin Transfer Print 7.5 in x7.5 in. X .75 in. (Mounted) Limited Edition of 100 Prints
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Square Root Study Gelatin Transfer Print 7.5 in x7.5 in. X .75 in. (Mounted) Limited Edition of 100 Prints
Dial Gelatin Transfer Print 7.5 in x7.5 in. X .75 in. (Mounted) Limited Edition of 100 Prints $ 100.00
Scan Gelatin Transfer Print 7.5 in x7.5 in. X .75 in. (Mounted) Limited Edition of 100 Prints $ 100.00
Selected Past Works
Figure 1 Acrylic on Canvas 1991 36 in. X 48 in. X 3 in.
Figure 2 Acrylic on Canvas 1989 24 in. X 36 in. X 2 in.
Figure 3 Acrylic on Canvas 1991 48 in. X 33 in. X 3 in.
Squeeze Me Acrylic/Chalk on Canvas 1988 36 in. X 44 in. X 3 in.
Worker 4398756 Acrylic on Xerox Prints 1992 43 in. X 48 in. X 3 in.
unpaintedworks@gmail.com