Santiago Bose: Painter, Magician

Just published!

Santiago Bose, Patrick Flores

Santiago Bose (1949-2002) — the “grandfather of Filipino art” — was a mixed-media artist from the Philippines and a pioneer in the use of indigenous materials. Emerging from an archipelago deeply textured in its cultural relations and a country that was successively colonized three times, his practice confronted a dense, teeming, and layered strata of citation and reference. Santiago Bose renders this density with whimsy and urgency as he disfigures painting, mixes media, stains surfaces, claims everyday objects, purloins images, and ventures into installations and performances that are at once heady and practical in their activation of local materials and historical references.

Santiago Bose: Painter, Magician features an in-depth essay by curator, art historian, and critic Patrick Flores, which cements Bose's legacy as one of the most significant and influential artists to emerge from Asia in the early 1990s. A selection of Bose’s essays, articles and talks, and a biography of Bose by his daughter Lilledeshan, complete the volume. Richly illustrated with over 150 images.

Santiago Bose was a mixed-media artist, educator, community organizer, and art theorist. Co-founder of the Baguio Arts Guild, he was recognized as a pioneer in the use of indigenous materials. 

Patrick Flores is professor in the Department of Art Studies at the University of the Philippines and chief curator of the National Gallery Singapore.