Art is a product of its time. It is a result of the social context in which it was made.
But it can also serve to bridge the past and present.
Kit Santos paintings show his penchant for vintage fashion design and thus transports the viewer back to the Roaring 20’s. The black and white silent movies. Glamorous Hollywood stars like Rudolf Valentino, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Gloria Swanson, Coco Chanel and a whole lot more.
Gangsters in Italian three-piece suits like Bonnie and Clyde and Al Capone. ...
Big shiny Buicks, Art Deco buildings, and swanky-smoky dives with big band jazz 78 rpm records playing out of a gramophone or a Wurlitzer jukebox..
The artist has placed the viewer in the same intimate space with people of play and display and the engaging stories they weave.
But while the mood dates back a century ago, the subjects are unmistakably
21st century consumerist.
Skimpy signature clothes and high heeled boots to walk all over you. A new Ferrari in fire red. Evocative, impersonal, for sale, for rent and available. The influencers are the new celebrities.
Popularized in song, literature and film, Ladies Who Lunch and the Woman in Red fill their time with frivolous luncheons and parties in luxurious places.
They play the Villain or the Victim. Lush and seductive. Curvy and usually blonde, they seek prey much like a spider to the fly.
Hard parties, drunken nights, smoky bars, bebop jazz and terrible hangovers. Heady-blissful days, we’ve all had one too many ourselves not too long ago.
These paintings are playful and entertaining. They challenge the viewers to weave their own stories about what is going on inside the canvas.
Yes, this artist’s work does have a life of its own. Enter at your own risk.
