Draft:Kristof Santy

Kristof Santy
Kristof Santy (born October 26 1987 in Roeselare) is a Belgian contemporary draughtsman and painter. He lives and works in Roeselare and has a second studio in French Flanders.

Biography
Kristof Santy studied graphic design in Bruges and took a cartoon drawing course at the “Atelier voor Plastische Kunsten” in Wevelgem. At the age of 19 he went to work for the printing and publishing house Roularta in Roeselare, which he continued for more than 14 years. He started taking evening classes at the Free Art Academy of Roeselare (SASK).

His early work consists of a wide variety of styles and subjects. He describes himself as a self-made artist.

Since 2020 Santy makes images of interiors, still lifes, workers, landscapes, food, gastronomy, fishing boats, everyday objects and folklore stories, inspired by his own environment as well as cookbooks or films. The titles are businesslike descriptions of what he wants to show. The resemblance to naïve art is a deliberate choice. He is influenced by the work of Jean Brusselmans, Konrad Klapheck, Domenico Gnoli and Joseph Willaert.

In 2021, he received his first solo exhibition, in the Thomas Serruys gallery in Bruges. The exhibition was visited by the curator Sasha Bogojev. In a review in the Californian art magazine Juxtapoz, Bogojev described the exhibition as "one of the strongest debuts we've witnessed in a long time".

In the same year Santy received an offer for a solo exhibition at the Unit Gallery in London. Bogojev put him in touch with galleries in Vienna (Christine König), Los Angeles (M+B) and Brussels (Sorry We're Closed). His works have been shown in solo exhibitions or group exhibitions in Vienna, Brussels, Roeselare, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Knokke, Tel Aviv and Marbella.

Book
In 2023 an art book about Kristof Santy titled "Playtime" was published by Lubok Verlag.

Gallery
Website of the artist: Kristof Santy – visual artis