NYAB Event - Desi Santiago "Declare Void"

Desi Santiago "Declare Void"

This event has ended.
At Envoy
Media: Sculpture, Installation

Since the late eighties – early nineties, Desi Santiago’s artistic practice has been strongly influenced by subcultural scenes. A visual and performance artist, his large-scale installations often involve performative and theatrical platforms, richly layered with philosophical, historical and social references. His first solo exhibition at envoy enterprises, “Declare Void,” comprises of a small shrine of six black French-polished wooden boxes and two inflatable sculptures. Embracing the symbolic and the iconic, Santiago’s work creates truly ceremonial experiences. The six monolithic boxes, each containing their own power, seem to symbolize the automotive black boxes that record data during a crash. Two of the boxes in the installation are empty (having once contained the inflatable sculptures), while the other four contain objects that can be viewed upon request. By keeping the boxes closed, the artist challenges the viewer’s conflicting emotions of curiosity and fear of its contents. The challenge is heightened when the viewer must request the boxes to be opened. By placing a plastic Star Trek cup carefully between the artist's bronzed baby shoes (all three filled with Goya rice), Santiago presents the adult world as one of mystery, while also conjuring up an intimate shrine that represents his family. Juxtaposing the intimate and the monumental, two black, large-scale inflatable sculptures command the space. A 7-foot-tall shape-shifting shaman, representing ‘the child,’ stands facing a 6.5-foot-tall suspended female head with crystalled earrings, which represents ‘the mother.’ The choice of material reflects the artist’s desire to breathe life into subjects whose lives have been lost.