Santiago Picatoste

SANTIAGO PICATOSTE (Palma de Mallorca, 1971).
“Atlas Gold,” 2017.
Enamel on methacrylate.
Signed, dated, and titled on the back.
Measurements: 115.5 x 9 cm (frame).
This work belongs to the Atlas series, one of Santiago Picatoste’s most recognizable bodies of work, in which the artist explores the relationship between color, gesture, and matter by combining traditional painting techniques with translucent industrial materials such as methacrylate. Conceived by the artist as “metaphorical landscapes,” the Atlas works distill his unique approach to post-pictorial abstraction and abstract expressionism, while also incorporating references to Pop Art and urban language. The chromatic intensity and the overlapping of layers create a vibrant surface in which the painterly gesture appears to be suspended and crystallized. In *Atlas Gold*, the predominance of gold also introduces a luminous dimension that reinforces the depth and the almost object-like nature of the composition.
A fellow of the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró, the Casa de Velázquez, and the MACRO in Rome, Picatoste has exhibited internationally and has participated in ARCO Madrid since 2002. In 2013, he won the IBERART International Painting Prize and received an Honorable Mention in the Gabarron Foundation’s International Sculpture Prize. His work is included in prominent institutional and public collections, including the Helga de Alvear Museum of Contemporary Art, the Infanta Elena Museum of Contemporary Art, MACRO in Rome, CAC Málaga, the Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation, the Unicaja Foundation, the Consell de Mallorca, and the City Council of Palma de Mallorca. It is also part of major international collections, such as the Benetton Foundation, the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice, the Golinelli Foundation in Bologna, and the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection.