SAN JUAN, PR.- Walter Otero Contemporary Art in San Juan announced the opening of the exhibition “Amanecer” by prominent Puerto Rican artist Armig Santos, scheduled for Thursday, September 25.

Santos will exhibit his first large-format landscape exhibition, which includes images of Puerto Rico's east coast in his three major works.

In the case of “Todo Cambia” (2023-2024 / Oil on canvas / 84 in x 132 in x 1.5 in / 213.9 cm x 335.3 cm x 3.8 cm), there is another version of this piece that was included in the exhibition “Historias/Histories,” curated by Marysol Nieves, Vice President and Senior Specialist in Latin American Art at Christie’s NY; September-October 2023). The painting possesses the ambiguity of a voyeuristic or contemplative gaze toward the island, but the symbolic value is present in the predominance of light and shadow.

Armig Santos’s work resists the simplicity of a postcard, as his landscapes are imbued with political tension. Specifically, in “Developer” (2023 / Oil on canvas / 84 in x 132 in x 1.5 in / 213.9 cm x 335.3 cm 3.8 cm; sold opening night at Christie’s), it is unclear whether the person on the horizon is the real estate developer in question, looking on with a covetous gaze, or someone contemplating the effect of development on the island following the devastating passage of Hurricane Maria on September 20, 2017. Santos leaves the ambiguity open to the viewer’s interpretation.

“Sunset” (Temple), 2023-2025 (Oil and sand on canvas / 84 in x 132 in x 1.5 in / 213.9 cm x 335.3 cm x 3.8 cm) was begun concurrently with “Todo Cambia” and “Developer (Christie’s).” The piece is inspired by the Spanish Mozarabic architecture that the artist saw while on a residency in Madrid, Spain, in early 2023, and by the landscapes of Alex Katz. “The painting is an exercise in contemplation and is the first large-format painting without figures. It is the largest in a series of landscapes based on natural light at different times. The beach as a temple,” Armig Santos emphasized.

The exhibition will also feature “El día que caer nieve” (The Day the Snow Fell) (2024 / Oil and paper on canvas / 84 in x 132 in x 1.5 in / 213.9 cm x 335.3 cm x 3.8 cm), inspired by the song “Lluvia con nieve” by Puerto Rican artist Mon Rivera (1961). It is an altered landscape with Caribbean musicians falling through the snow, a cross between celebration and disaster, as in Francisco Oller's work “El Velorio” (The Wake) (1893). “(The piece) is based on an image I took about eight or nine years ago. The image is metaphorically adapted to the country's current politics. The references were Rafael Ferrer and Francisco de Goya,” Santos explained.

This is the first exhibition of paintings designed specifically for Puerto Rico. At the same time, it is the first time that a body of work begun in 2023 and continuing through 2025 has been brought together. The creation of some pieces has taken more than a year. “In my work, I use images of Puerto Rico that dialogue with the history of global historical and contemporary art. I use the tropics as a pictorial base, following the language of tropical painting through the decades,” he explained.

Armig Santos completed a bachelor's degree in painting from the Puerto Rico School of Fine Arts and Design in 2018. He has exhibited at Half Gallery in Los Angeles, California, and at Deli Gallery in New York. The artist participated in the curating of Papo Colo's "Procession-Migration" in Puerto Rico, with support from MoMA PS1 in 2017, and participated in a group exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2022.

Gallery owner and cultural manager Walter Otero emphasized that Armig Santos's work is "generating a lot of international buzz, not only for its themes, but also because prestigious museums like the Whitney Museum in New York recently acquired it for their permanent collection... He is very focused on making his work known outside of Puerto Rico."