Curtis Santiago (born

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, Edmonton, Canada) is a

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

and

dance-rock Dance-rock is a dance-infused genre of rock music. It is a post-disco genre connected with pop rock and post-punk with fewer rhythm and blues influences. It originated in the early 1980s, following the decline in popularity of both punk and disco ...

musician. As a musician, he was previously signed to

Finger Lickin' Records Finger Lickin' Records is an English record label. Founded by Justin Rushmore and Jem Panufnik (known collectively as Soul of Man) in 1998, Finger Lickin' is solely dedicated to dance music, mainly covering breakbeat, electro and hip hop, eleme ...

. Santiago’s paintings, installations and sculptures are exhibited internationally at museums such as the

New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is a museum in New York City at 235 Bowery, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-named New Sc ...

(New York, US) and Ludwig Múzeum (Budapest, Hungary). Santiago has lived and worked in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

(Canada), New York, and

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

(Portugal). He's currently based in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, Germany.

Musical career

In the late 1990s, he was a member of the

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

group the Hi-Phoniqs, a

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

-oriented band. He left the city and the band in 2002 and moved to Vancouver to develop a solo career, and also worked as a club MC. In 2003, he won a

CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award Stingray Music is a Canada-based international multi-platform audio service that broadcasts continuous streaming music and other forms of audio on multiple channel feeds. The service is owned by Stingray Digital. While a song is playing on the ...

at NewMusicWest. He also founded the group Vendetta Republic. In early 2007 he began working with guitarist Mikey Schlosser. The duo moved their production headquarters to Toronto in 2008. Santiago's mixtape ''Have Mercy'' was released in April 2009. The majority of the mixtape was produced by SkullKrushers and was presented by DJ

Mick Boogie Mick Batyske, known by his stage name DJ MICK (also sometimes styled as MICK) and formerly Mick Boogie, is an American DJ and entrepreneur. He is an A-list DJ and spun private parties for celebrities including Kanye West, LeBron James, Jay-Z a ...

and Gakcity.com.

Discography

* 2002: ''Portrait of an Artist'' * 2007: ''TKO'' * 2009: ''Have Mercy'' * 2012: ''Alien Tentacle Sex'' (as Talwst)

Art career

Throughout the years, Santiago moved away from music and into the visual arts. His work consists out of paintings, large scale installations and sculptures, and miniature scenes –

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...

s – depicting memories from Santiago’s upbringing in

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

-Canadian culture. Dancing, party scenes, and nods to his musical career are recurring themes, often intertwined with (art) historical references. Santiago’s work is part of the permanent collection of the

Studio Museum in Harlem The Studio Museum in Harlem is an American art museum devoted to the work of artists of African descent. The museum's galleries are currently closed in preparation for a building project that will replace the current building, located at 144 W ...

(New York, US). He has exhibited, amongst others, at the

Drawing Center The Drawing Center is a Manhattan, New York, museum and a nonprofit exhibition space that focuses on the exhibition of drawings, both historical and contemporary. History The Drawing Center was founded by former assistant curator of drawings at ...

(NY), Biennale de Dakar (Senegal), Toronto Biennale of Art,

Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is located in Ridgefield, Connecticut Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, the 300-year-old community had a population o ...

(US),

Goethe Institute The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and ...

(Berlin, Germany),

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Beve ...

Art Gallery of Alberta The Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) is an art museum in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The museum occupies a building at Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton. The museum building was originally designed by Donald G. Bittorf, and B. James Wensley, alth ...

,Art Gallery of Alberta featured artist: Curtis Talwst Santiago
/ref> and various international art galleries.

References

External links

Curtis Santiago
Official website Living people People from Sherwood Park Black Canadian musicians Canadian people of Caribbean descent Musicians from Edmonton Canadian dance musicians Club DJs 1979 births {{Canada-singer-stub