Desi Santiago

Desi Santiago's Art Basel Miami debut

Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen and Louis Vuitton collaborator reworks Miami Beach Hotel for art fair

Desi Santiago, whose artwork and gallery shows coexist with fashion labels, nightlife, design, and even his own latino goth band, gets his highest profile outing yet at Miami Art Basel next month, when he will turn Lords South Beach Hotel into a giant black dog called Gypsy.

Santiago has been featured at MoMA PS1, Envoy Enterprises, The Met's Alexander McQueen retrospective and, more recently, at the Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs exhibition in Paris. The new piece, called Perrier Presents: The Black Lords at South Beach, will be a multi-sensory experience, complete with giant paws over the entrance, a head popping up over the courtyard and a tail swinging from side to side at the rear of the hotel. Gypsy, a recurring motif in his work, will 'greet' guests from the 3rd to the 9th of December and will apparently act as fortune teller, disseminating advice via laser eyes, smoke and various panting, running and barking sounds. 

The artist, who's been dubbed a New York Times "Artist in the Moment" says, “I navigate between art, nightlife and fashion worlds. For me, these are all forums to communicate through. I used to compartmentalise these worlds and thought the gallery space was the ultimate place to find some validation for my work. I let go and realised my art practice is specific to me. I had been creating my work in the world long before I was involved with galleries.”

 

Gypsy, Black Lords - Desi Santiago
Gypsy, Black Lords - Desi Santiago