Luis Cantillo received his BFA with honors from Saint Martins College
of Art in London and an MFA in Computer Art from the School of the
Visual Arts. Awards and residencies include the Inter-American Biennial
of Video Art in Washington, DC, and an artist-in-residence at Cooperartes
in Bogotá among others. He has collaborated with fellow
artist Lina Dorado in many projects. Together, their work has been
shown internationally in Bogota, Columbia; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Timra,
Sweden; Weimar, Germany, London, Tokyo, Washington DC, and New
York. His work has been featured at the Bilbioteca
Luis Angel Arango and the Museo de Arte Universidad Nacional, both
in Bogota, the Hastings Museum of Art in England, the Museum of New
Art in Detroit, the New York Public Library, and the Whitney Museum
of American Art in New York.
Cantillo’s work stems from his interest in cultures, history and
domesticity. Cantillo is the co- author Second Sight (2004),
and a photography artist-book Drawing Only (Villegas Editores,
2001). Born in Bogota,Columbia, he now lives and works in New York.
Name: LUIS CANTILLO Where are you from: City: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA State: CUNDINAMARCA Where do you live/work: City: BROOKLYN State: NY
How has this specific site of Lower Manhattan influenced and/or
made its way into your works?
Experiencing lower Manhattan made me think about the idea of a Metropolis,
of how that image of a clustered City of Buildings in a way has changed
over the past 100 years, its an image that I am drawn into but
at the same time it’s a space that could be very alienating.
Is there any recurrent motif that appears in your works? What
is it and why?
The circle was the form most persistent in my latest series of drawings
and photographs. I like the cyclic dynamism that brings to
the picture; the sense that everything is encompassed in its space
as oppose of being framed like in a square.
Do you have an unrealized dream project? (no matter how improbable,
absurd, costly, etc. it might seem)
I think everything could be done with charcoal and paper.
What is your favorite website and why?
I recommend the BBC website, the news area is widely known but its
cultural area is a complete universe great to browse. I personally
enjoy all the music channels broadcasting free over the net. I would
also recommend the small interviews sections with people like the Dalai
Lama, Susan Sontag and Alfred Hitchcock among others.
