January 13 - March 3, 2024

Antonio Santín’s ornamental rug paintings are labor intenseive, taking many months to complete. The technique of using realistic imagery to create optical illusions of depth dates back the work of Zeuxis (b. 464 BCE). We can reference the epic story of the birds that pecked at the painted grapes in a Zeuxis mural painting, as they looked so realistic. Like Zeuxis, Santín’s work depicts hyper-realistic renderings. In Santín’s case, they are of tapestries with shadows and forms creating realistic surfaces with the use of ancient techniques. To be clear, his approach is grounded in the traditional Spanish style of tenebrism and the Italian chiaroscuro. These techniques use extreme contrasts of light and dark to heighten surfaces and imagery to dramatic effect. Santín describes his work as “more real than reality itself.” With this statement Santín takes it further by squarely placing the work in the combined techniques of tenebrism, chiaroscuro, and trompe l’oeil, the no-tech version of what is today virtual, immersive reality.
Antonio Santín’s work has recently been exhibited at the Knoxville Museum of Art, Tennessee; the Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, NY; lthra Museum Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; the Farjam Foundation, Dubai, UAE; Kunstraum Bethanien, Berlin, Germany; and the Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin, Germany. In 2021, his work was featured at the Shara Art Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. His work was also featured in a solo exhibition at Sharjah Art Museum, UAE in 2016, and is held in numerous museums and private collections internationally.
Selected Works

Survival Instinct
2023
Oil on canvas
63 x 86.6 in (160 x 220 cm)

Absent Mind
2023
Oil on canvas
63 x 86.6 in (160 x 220 cm)

Saudade
2022
Oil on canvas
63 x 86.6 in (160 x 220 cm)

Grand Finale
2022
Oil on canvas
63 x 86.6 in (160 x 220 cm)

Eudaimonia
2022
Oil on canvas
63 x 86.63 in (160 x 220 cm)

Antonio Santín
Infinite Po, 2021
Oil on canvas
39.4 x 36.6 in (100 x 93 cm)

Terminus
2021
Oil on canvas
70.9 x 78.7 in (180 x 200 cm)

Anechoic Alibi
2021
Oil on canvas
62.9 x 86.6 in (160 x 220 cm)

Tears of Logic
2021
Oil on canvas
62.9 x 86.6 in (160 x 220 cm)

Apollo
2021
Oil on canvas
62.9 x 78.7 in. (160 x 200 cm)

Alboroto
2021
Oil on canvas
62.9 x 86.6 in (160 x 220 cm)

Chronocrator
2021
Oil on canvas
62.9 x 78.7 in. (160 x 200 cm)

Rules Were Made to be Brooklyn
2019
Oil on canvas
62.9 x 86.6 in (160 x 220 cm)

Gaslighting Minuet
2020
Oil on canvas
84.6 x 59.1 inches (250 x 150 cm)

Toast to Ashes
2020
Oil on canvas
59 x 84.6 inches (150 x 215 cm)

El Arbol de la Vidilla
2020
Oil on canvas
49 x 79 inches (124.5 x 200.7 cm)

Elevator Pitch
2019
Oil on canvas
60 x 78.8 inches (152.4 x 200.2 cm)

Pet Insurance
2019
Oil on canvas
51.2 x 70.9 inches (130 x 180 cm)

Coral Greed
2018
Oil on Canvas
70.8 x 78.7 inches (180 x 200 cm)

Inappropriate Predictions
2017
Oil on Canvas
67 x 71 inches (170 x 180 cm)

Yes To Octopus
2017
Oil on Canvas
47 x 86 inches (119.4 x 218 cm)