The painting ‘Surreal Mass Production’, by Portuguese painter Santiago Ribeiro, will be part of the Parallax Art Fair that will take place between April 28 and 30 in Los Angeles, the surrealist artist told Lusa news agency.
The work invites a critique of conformity in today’s society, but the artist said that interpretations can vary according to the imagination of his audience.
The Portuguese artist, who has already exhibited in various parts of the United States, frequently incorporates female representations in his art, something that is also visible in ‘Surreal Mass Production’. “The woman is a theme, an element that I almost always introduce in all the paintings,” he said.
“I can make the painting with an intention, but people are free to interpret it as they wish. They have even discovered things in my paintings that I had no idea were there,” stated Santiago Ribeiro.
“People can see and feel things according to their own imaginative capacity,” he continued. “I only create one thing and people are free to feel what comes to mind. That to me is interesting.”
Parallax will take place at MG Studio, a creative studio located in a privileged space, close to the LA Live complex in downtown Los Angeles – where the Museum of the Grammys and the Microsoft Theater are also located. The American artist Shahla Rosa will help Santiago Ribeiro with the logistics of this participation. According to the Portuguese, “Shahla is one of the best female artists in the United States to make surrealist art in the 21st century”.
Parallax will be an impactful exhibition, considered the artist, who chose this medium-sized painting because he identifies with what he wants to project at this moment.
“I’m a critic, although I also have fanciful pictures,” described Santiago Ribeiro.
However, his most recent work lacks any figures. It is a painting entitled ‘Empty City’, for which he was inspired by the flight of people because of the war in Ukraine.
In addition to participating in the Parallax Art Fair in Los Angeles, Santiago Ribeiro is also working to organize the 15th edition of “International Surrealism Now”, an initiative that started in 2010 and whose most recent edition was in 2021.
“Surrealism Now is a union of several artistic trends between 21st century surrealism, visionary art, fantastic art and abstract art,” explained Ribeiro.
The artist mentioned the Coimbra area as a potential host for the exhibition, with no confirmed locations or dates yet.
Source: Press Release
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Santiago Ribeiro was born in Coimbra, Portugal, and received art training at the Escola Avelar Brotero and Escola Superior de Educação of Coimbra. He has held numerous individual and collective art exhibitions in Portugal and abroad, and his work can be found in several private collections, as well as in the Collection of Contemporary Art of the National Museum Machado de Castro and in the Bissaya Barreto Foundation in Coimbra.
Ribeiro’s paintings are based on dreams and visions and feature metaphoric surrealist imagery that surprises, puzzles, and evokes mixed feelings. His works have been described as complex compositions that illustrate deep concerns about modern society and its individual and collective behavior.
In 2010, Ribeiro founded the “International Surrealism Now” project, a series of collective exhibits dedicated to showcasing Surrealism as an art form. In June 2014, he was invited to participate in the “Fantastic Realism” exhibit, an international collective promoted by the LuminArte Gallery of Dallas, featuring local and international artists. In 2017, Ribeiro’s art was displayed by the Times Square’s Nasdaq OMX Group in New York City.
Ribeiro is affiliated with United Photo Press and continues to create thought-provoking and visually stunning works of art. PAJ/Staff
