Above Surface l Collage

Carmine Santaniello: Neo-Expressionism Brut Carmine Santaniello’s art can be seen as Brut Neo-Expressionism with strong street art roots. Between abstraction and figuration, his artwork is highly expressive. Reminiscent of Basquiat, as shown in his work Queer Collage I, there is no doubt that Carmine is a NYC artist to follow closely -ArtWe Fall pick. Based in New York, I have exhibited nationally and internationally with work appearing in numerous publications and collections in the US and Europe. Homosurrealism magazine and The Art of Man magazine USA, Mascular magazine UK, Boner magazine Germany, Character magazine France, Noisy Rain and Spunk magazines to name a few. My art is in the collections of The Library of Congress, the private collection of Charles Leslie as well as the permanent collection of the Leslie Lohman Museum of Art, New York City. In addition, I show with Mooi-Man Male Art Gallery, The Netherlands, the Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam, Ioco Studio Gallery, Barcelona, Spain and the ChimMaya Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. Artist Statement: Collage is an integral part of my art and is usually the starting point for each work. Employing the traditional method of cut and paste paper, I create new series of works. While incorporating elements of my own photographs of exterior environments, along with sourced papers such as graffiti, street art and marred urban surfaces. These then go on to become finished art on paper. I find the process of collage so tactile, I love to rip, tear, cut and paste. It’s about paper’s texture, value, color and the images relationships. My collages are spontaneous, and I find the process the most exciting. Unlike different mediums I use, I never plan out the work it just evolves on its own, forging a new visual language. Queer Artist Statement: “I explore the male persona and visible form. These works are surrounded by urban vocabulary such as graffiti and provide the viewer a voyeuristic look into a homoerotic environment of beauty, aggression, sensitivity and charged sexual desire. “