Art Space Talk: Santiago Paulos

The paintings of artist Santiago Paulos are a prime example of expressionistic portraiture. Mr. Paulos conveys a strong sense of raw emotion by utilizing his skill with the brush and knife. Santiago's painterly technique reveals a man who will undoubtedly continue to advance as an artist.

In my opinion, Mr. Paulos's art seems to convey feelings of loss, fear, and doubt. However, a certain wisdom and strength can be found within the suffering eyes of the faces he captures. In a sense, his work reflects the fortitude of the human spirit.

I hope you enjoy the interview I had with Santiago Paulos:

Q. When did you first discover that art would be an important part of your adult life?

A. "Some time in 1998 I saw a painting of Miró that woke up something in me. It wasn’t the interest to painting. Rather it created a kind of need to acquire culture, not only paintings, also writings."

Q. How has society influenced your art? Are there any social implications in your art?

A. "I know that every artist is a product of his time but I don’t know what else to say."

Q. What are your artistic influences? Has anyone inspired you?

A. "The list is huge… I could say Bacon, Auerbach, Balthus and Freud as contemporary painters. Giacometti, Matisse, Vang Gogh, Rembrandt, Titian and of course: Velázquez… My surroundings and everything else."

Q. Do you have an upcoming exhibit? If so, where and when?

A. "Not at the moment… Last exhibition was in July of this year at the "Museum of San José" and it was a selection of portrait works of the last three years."

Q. Where do you see your art in 10 years? What are your plans?

A. "I don’t have so much imagination. My plan is to become a good painter, and that will take a lot of time."

Q. Discuss one of your pieces. What were you thinking when you created it? What is your artistic process?

A. "I feel that when I decide to make a portrait working from persons that I care about and of course, that interest me, finally returns me something that is in the right direction. For some reason I have decided making a portrait of my grandmother. The process in itself is the mystery of painting. Nobody knows it. I could tell you the technical things like that I have used oil on paper with brush and knife but I don’t think that would help you to get closer to the experience."

Q. Why did you choose the medium(s) that you use?

A. "One never knows that, its just a mixture of time, experiences, accidents and instinct. I mean that one needs to be comfortable with something in a specific time and elaborates from there."

Q. Do you have a degree or do you plan to attend school for art?

A. "I attended the National School of Fine Arts for a few years… Later I have found the workshop of Alvaro Amengual (a well know artist here) who is the person who instructed me. Currently Im working in my own space, maybe interested in some kind of international scholarship."

Q. Where can we see more of your art?

www.santiagopaulos.com

Q. Why do you create art?

A. "Some time ago I read a Hopper quote where he said that If he could say it in words there would be no reason to paint, I cant find better words."

Q. Where can we find you on myartspace.com?

A. "My ID is Paulos."

Feel free to leave a comment about Mr. Santiago's art. You can view more of Mr. Santiago's art by doing a search for Paulos on the main site: http://myartspace.com/

Take care, Stay true

Brian Sherwin