In 2018, Curtis Talwst Santiago was on residency at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. He posted a photograph from his studio. Greg Fox — drummer, multidisciplinary artist, and longtime mutual admirer — saw the post on his phone and realized he was in the backyard music residency while Santiago was in the main building. He messaged immediately: look out the window. After years of following each other’s work from a distance, they finally met face to face.
That chance encounter became a working relationship. On The Gradual Progression, his acclaimed 2017 solo album, Fox invited Santiago to be a featured vocalist. When Santiago asked what he should prepare, Fox asked him to be in the moment — to respond unplanned to what he was hearing. That way of working, spontaneous and responsive, has defined everything they’ve made together since. In 2023, Fox joined Santiago at the Drawing Center for a live drawing and sonic performance within the Of Mythic Worlds exhibition, exploring the metaphysical and the sublime together in real time.
Greg Fox is a drummer and multidisciplinary artist born and based in New York City. He has worked across a wide range of musical contexts and collaborations, known for his work with Liturgy, Zs, and Ben Frost, among many others. His practice extends beyond drumming into composition, sound design, and teaching.
In Salzburg, Fox returns to this way of working with Santiago, drawing on the same intuitions that have guided their collaboration from the beginning.
- Venue
- Stadtgalerie Zwergelgarten
- Date
- 11. 8. 26, 7 p.m.
Curtis Talwst Santiago
(b. 1979, Edmonton, Alberta) lives and works in Munich. Early in his practice he studied as an apprentice of Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun. He has exhibited internationally at venues such as The Drawing Center and The New Museum, New York, NY; The Eli and Edythe Broad Museum at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI; the Institute of Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA; The Pérez Art Museum Miami, FL; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada; Osage Gallery, Hong Kong, and various others. His works are in the permanent collections of Lenbachhaus, the National Gallery of Canada, the Kadist Foundation, Studio Museum, Harlem and the Nevada Museum of Art among others.
Santiago was included in the SITE Santa Fe SITELines. 2018 Biennial, Casa Tomada, the inaugural 2019 Toronto Biennial of Art in Toronto, Canada, and featured in the 2018 and 2022 Biennale de Dakar in Senegal.
"My practice combines painting, sculpture, installation, and sound to explore memory, migration, and how personal history connects to wider cultural narratives. I begin with research, writing, and drawing, then develop works through hands-on making—building forms, testing materials, and composing scenes that move between intimacy and public reference. Sound and archival elements often enter as structuring tools, shaping how the work is activated in a space. Each project is built through iteration, moving between idea, object, and environment to invite close attention and reflection."
Website
Exhibitions
Selected solo exhibitions
2025 Offsides, Nir Altman, Munich (DE).
Buttermilk Mood, Hiro Gallery, Tokyo.
2024 A man not in the mood for salsa, Martina Simeti Gallery, Milan (IT).
2023 Artissima, Torino, Nir Altman Gallery, Munich.
Moving through Burning Haze, Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto (CA).
Joyvasted, Nir Altman, Munich.
Mas a Play, Capsule Gallery Shanghai, Art Brussels, Brussels.
Selected group exhibitions
2025 Deep Color, Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton, NY (US).
AGA100: Act 3 Words to Worldmaking, Art Gallery of Alberta, Alberta (CA).
Smaller Objects Larger Pictures, Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton, NY.
HOME: A Space of Sharing and Strength, National Art Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
2024 Drawing Now Art Fair, Paris; Art Basel (HK).
Frieze, Los Angeles, CA (US).
Felix Art Fair, Los Angeles, CA.
V1 Gallery, Copenhagen (DK).
2023 Mickalene Thomas – Portrait of an Unlikely Space, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (US).
Poetry of the Evident, Galerie Droste, Düsseldorf (DE).
Crafting Resitance, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (US).
Publications
Brown, Kate, "Why Is Small Art So Big Right Now?", in: ArtNet, 22 January 2025.
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/small-art-2599293?amp=1
Demircan, Saim, "Curtis Talwst Santiago’s Sonic Sensibilities", in: frieze, 4 March 2024.
https://www.frieze.com/article/curtis-talwst-santiago-a-man-not-in-the-mood-for-salsa-2024-review
Humber, Larry, "Former Art Gallery of Ontario curator wins Canadian foundation’s curatorial award", in: The Art Newspaper, 31 July 2024.
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/07/31/wanda-nanibush-curtis-talwst-santiago-hnatyshyn-foundation-mid-career-award
Milnes, Daniel, „Curtis Talwst Santiago at Nir Altman“, in: Art Viewer, 16 March 2023.
https://artviewer.org/curtis-talwst-santiago-at-nir-altman/
