b. 1995 in Virginia
lives and works in Chicago, IL
Education
2014 - 2018 Columbia College Chicago
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023 - Gola Space, Chicago, IL "Wild as the Wind"
2022 - Belong Gallery, Chicago,IL, "Mega Mania"
2022 - Johalla Projects, The Cube DEMI, Chicago, IL, "The Escapist Resort"
2020 - Baby Blue Gallery, Chicago, IL 'The Gum Beneath Your Shoe'
2019 - Studio Racine, Comercio Popular, Don Julio Tequila, Chicago, IL, 'Amorfa'
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 - House of Vans Chicago, "Suelta" w/ Camilo Medina
2022 - New City Magazine & Chicago Artist Coalition, Chicago, IL, Breakout Artists Group Exhibition
2021- Belong Gallery, Sabor Interno, w/ Marcelo Eli Sarimento
2021 - Baby Blue Gallery x Rupture Chicago, Strawberry Moon
2021 - Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL, Mutations w/ Eli Merritt
2020 - Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn, NY, Mirror Eye, Yngspc x Far by Wide
2019 - Baby Blue Gallery, Chicago, IL, Works on Paper Group Show
2019 - Chuquimarca Projects, Chicago, IL, Nada y Todo (w/ Marcelo Eli & Saul Palos)
2019 - Heaven Gallery, AMFM Booth, Chicago, IL, Alternative Space
2019 - Workshop 4200, Epoch Entertainment, Chicago, IL, Saturate
2018 - Mana Contemporary, Chicago, IL, AMFM Booth, The Other Art Fair
2017 - Sidewinder Gallery, Chicago, IL, Exochrome (with Rory Scott & Eli Merritt)
Publications
NewCity 2023 Breakout Artist's Cover by Roland Santana
NewCity Magazine Breakout Artists of 2022, Written by Ciera McKissick
Sixty Inches From the Center, "Roland Santana: The Gum Beneath Your Shoe"
Written by Lauren Iacoponi, September 15, 2020
Chicago Reader, "Our Favorite Things for Fall Arts", 2020
South Side Weekly Arts Issue 2019 Print Gallery
Cadera Magazine Issue 003, November 28, 2018
Knack Magazine No. 48, 2017
Chicago Creatives Interview, by Nico Rud
Roland Santana is a Chicago based artist whose influences began from observing his father’s industrial processes while working as a house painter in the early 2000’s. Mostly growing familiar with domestic building materials and techniques, he began to incorporate them in his creative projects. Reclaimed foam, silicone, plaster, and concrete are some of his materials of preference. Santana’s interest in non-traditional materials has allowed him to have an expansive and open-ended body of work that is constantly evolving, steering clear of limits of every kind. Experimenting with ideas of scale and roles of materials he evokes a bold abstract language that carries a sculptural essence. Vibrant color decisions are unlocking spiritual dimensions, fostering intimacy with the unseen. Transforming, transmuting from reality to an euphoric dream world. Today Santana has gained the likes of several galleries and collectors and has participated in showcases in spaces such as NADA, AMFM, Belong Gallery, CAC, Ortega y Gasset Projects (Brooklyn, NYC), Baby Blue Gallery, Heaven Gallery, Chuquimarca Projects and is 2022's Breakout Artist for NewCity Magazine.