Curtis Talwst Santiago Artist Archive – Toronto Biennial of Art

Curtis Talwst Santiago (born in Edmonton, Canada) is an artist with a decentralized practice. Curtis studied as an apprentice to Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun and has exhibited internationally at venues such as the New Museum, New York; the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; the Pérez Art Museum Miami; and SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah. The artist’s work was also featured in the Biennale de Dakar and SITE Santa Fe, both 2018, and is in the permanent collection of the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Exhibit

Curtis Talwst Santiago at 55 Unwin

Built of rubble salvaged from construction sites across the city, Santiago’s J’ouvert Temple is a modern-day capriccio—an architectural fantasy informed by the artist’s experience of ancient and modern-day ruins. Santiago’s work draws specifically on a blend of aesthetic influences he encountered in the architecture of Portugal and Italy, and incorporates that with an aesthetic commentary […]

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The Port Lands

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September 21 – December 1, 2019

Curtis Talwst Santiago, *J’ouvert Temple*, 2019, mixed-media installation. Commissioned by the Toronto Biennial of Art. On view at 55 Unwin Ave as part of the Toronto Biennial of Art (2019). Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy Toronto Biennial of Art.

Curtis Talwst Santiago, *J’ouvert Temple (detail)*, 2019, mixed-media installation. Commissioned by the Toronto Biennial of Art. On view at 55 Unwin Ave as part of the Toronto Biennial of Art (2019). Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy Toronto Biennial of Art.

Donors & Supporters

Exhibit

Curtis Talwst Santiago at 259 Lake Shore Blvd E

This installation brings together forty-eight works from Santiago’s Infinity Series, which consists of miniature dioramas housed in reclaimed jewelry boxes that are often assembled using found materials to convey an interior world. Since 2012, Santiago has developed a robust body of work that reflects the complex, intertwined elements of individual identity, alternative histories, and personal […]

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259 Lake Shore Blvd East

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September 21 – December 1, 2019

Curtis Talwst Santiago, *Infinity Series,* 2012-2019, mixed-media dioramas in reclaimed jewelry box. On view at 259 Lake Shore Blvd E as part of the Toronto Biennial of Art (2019). Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy Toronto Biennial of Art.

Curtis Talwst Santiago, *Deluge VII,* 2016, mixed-media diorama in reclaimed jewelry box. On view at 259 Lake Shore Blvd E as part of the Toronto Biennial of Art (2019). Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy Toronto Biennial of Art.

Curtis Talwst Santiago, *I Know Places,* 2012, mixed-media diorama in reclaimed jewelry box. On view at 259 Lake Shore Blvd E as part of the Toronto Biennial of Art (2019). Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy Toronto Biennial of Art.

Curtis Talwst Santiago, *Golden Hour,* 2018, mixed-media diorama in reclaimed jewelry box. On view at 259 Lake Shore Blvd E as part of the Toronto Biennial of Art (2019). Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid. Courtesy Toronto Biennial of Art.

Program

In Conversation with Curtis Talwst Santiago

This conversation with Yaniya Lee and Curtis Talwst Santiago opens up the processes and practice behind Santiago’s contributions to the Toronto Biennial of Art. Spanning from the ongoing Infinity Series–which inspired a host of responses from school students participating in facilitated workshops in the Biennial’s Programs–to J’ouvert Temple (2019)–an architectural fantasy or “capriccio” installed at 55 […]

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