Katia Santibanez: New Paintings

Texas Gallery is pleased to announce the first solo exhibition in Texas by Katia Santibanez. The exhibition presents new paintings by the artist, who lives and works in New York City. Santibanez’s work has been seen previously at the gallery in 2007 in the group show, Lines, curated by Susie Rosmarin.

Known for her detailed and densely patterned paintings on panel which are intimately scaled, Santibanez, who was trained as a microbiologist before she became a painter, carries that interest into the content and the form of her abstract images.

In her work she is drawn to nature and its essential forms that are then  translated into formal painting concerns.

Using the grid as a basic structure, the artist pursues the interaction of repeating patterns of spirals and folding forms and of jewel-like colors.

Recent residencies at the American Academy in Rome, the Albers Foundation and Casa Wabi in Mexico have provided additional inspiration derived from not only nature, but the investigations of other artists such as Anni and Josef Albers whose work she was able to examine first hand  and the Baroque art, architecture and sculpture of Rome.

The artist has said: When I make a painting I usually choose my colors before I start. I prepare the colors in little jars and see if the colors work with one another. Sometimes I change my mind while I am painting so I change one or two colors. It is not a problem for me. I want the painting and the colors to be in harmony. And further, with reference to the textiles of Anni Albers, she has said: I looked at her weavings like I was looking through a microscope.  It reminded me of my studies in microbiology before I studied art. A few years ago I bought a microscope to look my collection of leaves, feathers and branches, and that brings you into a different world.

Katia Santibanez was born in Paris, France in 1964. In the 1990s she moved to New York where she lives and works along with a studio in the Berkshires. In addition to her paintings, she makes drawings, videos and photographs that integrate all her concerns for experimentation within forms.

She has exhibited frequently at the Morgan Lehman Gallery in New York and has just recently completed a residency at Casa Wabi in Mexico with her husband, the painter, James Siena.

For further information, please contact Nancy Douthey at the Texas Gallery, 2012 Peden, Houston, TX 77019/ 713.524.1593 or [email protected].

Pictured:  “A Mist of Sounds”, 2015, Acrylic on panel, 20 x 16”.