Artist Jose Santos III revels in the hours he spends painting every day. It allows him to discover something new each time, and this is the platform from which his new exhibit takes off. He simply chooses to call it Insights, a collection of seven works in oil that will be on view at West Gallery, SM Megamall, from November 24 to December 5.
Insights pertain to those moments during art-making where answers are provided as you go along the process of thinking and reflection on what direction the paintings is going to take,” says Santos. “On another level, ‘insight’ also pertains to revelations about the work after it is finished. I guess it’s quite safe to say that ‘insight’ is that energy that keeps the artist creating.”
Santos briefly describes two of the seven works on exhibit, depicting images where viewers can also freely inject their own interpretation, their own insight upon closer inspection.
One piece, a 37” x 33” oil painting, features two male figures facing each other and looking at a magnifying glass. One man is wearing a hat that contains various tools. He appears to be a handyman inspecting the other man, as if looking for something to fix. Santos continues, “The other man looks back, not knowing what the other man is doing.”
Another piece, a 4.5’ x 2’ oil painting, features a man sitting precariously on top of a one-legged table while balancing a cup on top of a pole that he is holding. “The appearance of control and stability is betrayed by the inherent tension of time represented by the hour glass at the lower right of the composition,” says Santos.
When it comes to painting technique, Santos uses alla prima and glazing. He has been using the same approach in his past narrative paintings, but now uses glazing to enhance the effect of chiaroscuro on the paintings. Used to painting for an average of six to eight hours a day, Santos says he’s planning to add more complex structures in his imagery in the future.
To Santos, recognition and achievement are incidental perks in his chosen path to continue creating art. “The real accomplishment is art-making itself, and it is there where I intend to achieve more by continuing to be worth the viewer’s time of going to the gallery and see my paintings.”
Documentation
