Jose John Santos III Offers A Sneak Peek

Jose John Santos III, "Wishbone"

It was in 2009’s {Un}Common that Jose John Santos III first introduced us to his fascination with objects. Almost exactly two years later, Sneak Peek, his first solo show since then, affirms that this has not waned. This time around, John opts for simple, quiet compositions for his paintings. Originally installed at the gallery of Sitio Remedios, the beautiful Ilocos beachside resort of art patron Dr. Joven Cuanang, this exhibit travelled to Art Informal in Greenhills, a concession to allow Manila-based enthusiasts a chance to view the latest from John.

John anchored the show on seven rectangular paintings with gray backdrops. In each one, he has painted an object that has not been fully revealed, portions of which remain wrapped and bound as if it has just been retrieved from storage. He uses innocuous items, pieces that we can well imagine as discards in our homes, consignees to the bodega. In Wishbone we glimpse the tips of a deer’s antler enclosed in bright red plastic. In Highlight, the head of a desk lamp comes out from a black garbage bag. An actual object is incorporated into each painting, one that echoes elements from the painted subject: the wooden hooves of a deer jut out from beneath the frame of Wishbone, while an electric wire and plug runs from Highlight’s lamp to a socket on its side.

“The idea behind the attachments is to go beyond the rectangularity of the paintings,” John explains. “That’s our operational understanding of a painting—it’s rectangular, that’s what we know. Integrating the actual objects expands the storytelling. The pieces have become not just paintings but also objects. Of course, paintings in themselves are already objects. [Now] they kind of connect with the objects around them… they more or less blend in with their surroundings, their environment.”

The show also includes pieces that John calls his Lost and Found Series, framed photos of knickknacks transformed into wrapped objects through the addition of painted details. The details keep to John’s highly realistic style, you can’t tell the painting from the photograph. A painting of blue twine turns the photo of a torn canvas into a parcel, for instance, while that of masking tape running across the photo of a detergent bottle seals it off as a toxic substance.

Lost and Found Series (1-10), though part of this group of works, has been assembled from remnants of John’s paintings rather than from photographs. In 2002, John cut them up in frustration. They have now been salvaged, retouched, and resurrected. Truly lost and found, they offer a sneak peek into John’s history.

Sneak Peek was on view at The Centro Iloco de Juan Luna Hall, Sitio Remedios, Ilocos Norte on 10 December 2011 and at Art Informal, 277 Connecticut St, Greenhills East from 15 -19 December 2011. For more information on Sitio Remedios, visit www.sitioremedios.com. For more information on Art Informal, visit www.artinformal.com