MANILA, Philippines - Usually when a young man decides he wants to be an artist, his well-meaning, albeit conservative, parents encourage him to study something practical, like business, instead. It doesn’t normally happen in reverse, but this was exactly the case with 27-year-old artist, Luis Santos. Five years after finishing a business management degree in Ateneo de Manila, Luis decided to start painting. Here, the shy artist talks about his inspiration for YStyle's February logo, along with a few words on fashion. —Cai Subijano
YSTYLE: Which projects do you feel you are most known for?
LUIS SANTOS: I just started so I can’t say that I’m known for anything. But my works for the past exhibitions are paintings of skull specimens and portraits of people with blurry heads. (Luis just wrapped up his third exhibit, “Then It Happened,†at Blanc Peninsula Manila last month. —ed.)
What was your concept for the new YStyle logo?
It’s a collection of found images, randomly chosen, overlaid on top of each other.
Were you listening to music while you were designing it? What song? On purpose or on shuffle?
Yes. I always listen to music whenever I’m working on something. My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless†record has been playing a lot lately. I’ve been also listening to a lot of New Order and Wild Nothing.
Who/what inspires your art?
I get inspired by things around me. I always look for inspiration in film, music and works of other artists. I am a huge fan of Cy Twombly, Gerhard Richter and Anselm Kiefer.
Who/what inspires your personal fashion sense?
I don’t really know anything about fashion. But I guess I just look for anything Mister Rogers, George Costanza, or 1979-1980 Bernard Sumner would wear.
What upcoming projects do you have?
I have exhibits at 20Square in Silverlens Gallery this June and at West Gallery on December. My work will also be shown at the Art Fair Philippines this February.