Gabriele de Santis

I always have an espresso after lunch  2014

Acrylic and Skateboard Grip on Canvas, Mounted on Skateboard Wheels

59 x 39 in.

Gabriele De Santis’ art forms part of the Conceptualist movement, whereby the concept of the work itself takes precedence over pre-conceived traditional aesthetic, material and compositional concerns. Born in 1983, the young artist completed his MA in the Visual Arts at Camberwell College of Arts in London and has now returned to Rome to develop his oeuvre.

His upcoming events and recent exhibition history include: a future solo show at the Limoncello gallery in London, The Dance Step of a Watermelon while Meeting a Parrot for the First Time at the Depart Foundation in Los Angeles, Drop it Like it’s Hot at the Galerie Valentin in Paris, We’ve Got Mail at the Mostyn Oriel Museum in Wales, Gabriele De Santis at the Galerie Valentin, Yeah and Look where it got us, Mon Chéri in Brussels and "Dear Michael" at the Frutta Gallery in Rome.

De Santis’s creative ambition can be found in his consideration of the possibilities by which an object can be liberated from its pre-determined role and transformed into art. Having gained acclaim for his ability to manipulate material to achieve an equilibrium between texture, shape and colour, his recent works concentrate on maintaining the integrity of medium whilst exploring new means of manipulation and presentation. ‘Using the background texture, premade by nature, and imposing areas of monochrome on top, I am playing with the hierarchy of background and foreground within painting.’ The artist plays with the interaction between negative and positive space and the impact of monochrome to establish this differentiation. The hashtag often features in his work as a leitmotif for the immediacy and exaggerated simplification of contemporary culture.