Alejandro Santiago

Alejandro Santiago’s oeuvre explores pre-Columbian styles of figuration and modernist relationships between figure, line, and ground. Santiago’s paintings refer to the modernist work of Rufino Tamayo as they explore the possibilities of pure abstraction through ecstatic lines and earthen fields of colors. The artist is best known for his series “2501 Migrantes,” which consists of large, totemic ceramic figures cast in bronze. The artist began the project upon returning to his hometown of Oaxaca after considerable time away and realizing that the population had sharply dropped due to emigration. Wanting to know more about the experience of crossing the border, Santiago traveled to Tijuana, where he hired a coyote to sneak him into the United States. He crafted the sculptures of “2501 Migrantes” in response to this experience, using the works to repopulate his town and memorialize the difficulties of immigration.