Monumental Word Paintings

“I’ve made paintings from verbatim with words from lyrics in music or certain sections of books. Of course the words I use come from every source. Sometimes they come from a conversation in a podcast and sometimes in one on one conversations, or things I see on the street. I’ve had ideas come to me literally in my sleep, on the subway, or while sitting in the lineup surfing. I tend to lean into these ideas and on blind faith I feel obliged to use.”

Words and phrases started at the centre of Robert Santorés work and first appear in his paintings as early as 1987.

The use of words and text in twentieth century art can first be traced back to cubist painters such as Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso who added letters and words, painted and collaged, into still lives.

Playing with language was also central to Dada artists who left an important legacy with their radical, often humorous use of words.

The dadaists as well as the 1960’s pop artists, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Warhol, Ed Ruscha and the monumental large scale works by James Rosenquist are all influential inspirations to Santoré and his use of words in an ambiguous and playful way could be seen as an expression of that influence.

Santoré plays with language in his text pieces, using devices such as onomatopoeia (a word that sounds like its meaning), puns, alliteration (a phrase or series of words where the first or second letter is repeated), and contrasting meanings.

Many of his early works such as FAMOUS (1988) depict single words in a strong typographic format or font. A more brooding atmosphere emerges in the later series, HIGH YIELD JUNK BOND (1989), which illustrates the words overlaid with imagery recalling declining Southern California industrial complexes.

Other works such as FITS & STARTS (2019), FAST FOOD (2021) & PÃPƏL NUNCIO (2022) reference advertising while setting the text against iconic abstraction of cold war and space race era imagery Santoré witnessed as a child of a military family during the Vietnam War. His keen interest in the Apollo Moon missions as a child resonates as well as his introduction to renaissance masterworks retooled and germane to current commercial and social media trends.

Robert Santoré FAST FOOD 60 x 306in (152.4 x 777.24cm) |  Oil, oil stick, military & industrial enamels, aluminum shapes on birch panel with micro-layer clay ground
FAST FOOD V1 & V2
60 x 306in (152.4 x 777.24cm) | Oil, oil stick, military & industrial enamels, aluminum shapes on birch panel with micro-layer clay ground

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Robert Santoré PÃPƏL NUNCIO 60 x 276in (152.4 x 701.04cm) |  Oil, oil stick, military & industrial enamels, aluminum shapes on birch panel with micro-layer clay ground
PÃPƏL NUNCIO
c 60 x 276in (152.4 x 701.04cm) | Oil, oil stick, military & industrial enamels, aluminum shapes on birch panel with micro-layer clay ground
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FiITS AND STARTS
60 x 216in (152.4 x 548.64cm) | Oil, oil stick, military & industrial enamels, aluminum shapes on birch panel with micro-layer clay ground
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Robert Santoré HOME WORK 60 x 216in (152.4 x 548.64cm) |  Oil, oil stick, military & industrial enamels on birch panel with micro-layer clay ground
HOME WORK
60 x 216in (152.4 x 548.64cm) | Oil, oil stick, military & industrial enamels on birch panel with micro-layer clay ground
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OUTCAST
60 x 216in (152.4 x 548.64cm) | Oil, oil stick, military & industrial enamels on birch panel with micro-layer clay ground
Experience Paintings | View Paintings | View Editions
THUNDERBIRDS
36 x 144in (91.44 x 365.76cm) | Oil, oil stick, military & industrial enamels on birch panel with micro-layer clay ground
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Robert Santoré BULL MARKET 1988 60 x 126 X 120in (152.4 x 320.04 x 304.8cm)| Oil, oil stick, industrial enamels, roofing tar, bees wax and encaustic, solvent-transfer, newsprint, chalk & charcoal on birch panels w/14ct gold chain & galvanized nail
“BULL MARKET”
©1988 60 x 126 X 120in (152.4 x 320.04 x 304.8cm) | Oil, oil stick, military & industrial enamels, roofing tar, bees wax and encaustic, solvent-transfer, newsprint, chalk & charcoal on canvas on birch panels w/14ct gold chain & galvanized nail

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Robert Santoré HIGH YEIELD, JUNKBOND ©1989 60 x 276in (152.4 x 548.64cm) |  Oil, oil stick, military & industrial enamels, roofing tar, bird shit, solvent-transfer, newsprint, chalk & charcoal on canvas on birch panels
“HIGH YEIELD, JUNKBOND”
©1989 60 x 276in (152.4 x 548.64cm) | Oil, oil stick, military & industrial enamels, roofing tar, bird shit, solvent-transfer, newsprint, chalk & charcoal on canvas on birch panels

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“FAMOUSE”
©1988 60 x 276in (152.4 x 548.64cm) | Oil, oil stick, military & solvent-transfer, newsprint, chalk & charcoal bees wax and encaustic on canvas