Offshoot Arts


London
United Kingdom
Mobile Ph: +44(0)7515 123453
Email : info@offshootarts.com
URL : www.offshootarts.com

Melissa Digby-Bell (Founder & Director)


About

Offshoot Arts is a hybrid gallery and art consultancy based in the UK. We collaborate with a global roster of artists who question and explore universal themes and issues that connect us all; often expressed through highly unusual and innovative materials and techniques.

Our commitment to discovering and nurturing artistic talent is shared via curatorial projects, pop-up exhibitions, collaborations, curated online presentations and private consultancy. We champion artists, connect with audiences and create engaging and accessible creative experiences that challenge and inspire.

Melissa Digby-Bell founded and launched Offshoot Arts in 2020. She has worked in the upper echelons of the contemporary art sector since 2002, following a degree in History of Art at the University of Bristol. Her career began at White Cube, going on to manage the studios of high-profile artists Marc Quinn and Anish Kapoor.

Santiago Montoya Golden Lucky Eight

Santiago Montoya Golden Lucky Ten

Santiago Montoya Golden Lucky Zero

Santiago Montoya New Multi (III)

About the Artist

Montoya’s practice has been dedicated to the exploration of notions of value, nationalism, commodities and the universal consequences and nuances of the production and distribution of wealth. Initially a painter, an inspired digression was to incorporate the actual raw materials in his work – global currencies, gold, silver, copper and other precious materials – exposing the gulf between official state ideologies and reality itself. Montoya captures the collective consciousness, questioning the systems of power and shining a light on the disparities, injustices, and the absurd. Montoya’s works combine a wry humour and acute insight on a global subject that affects us all, and the inherent systems and structures that we live by.
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At first sight, the visual impact of Santiago Montoya’s epic work is a vibration of colour, abstraction, meticulous detail and immaculate arrangements that dazzle the viewer. It is only upon close inspection that the artist’s medium is revealed - infinite rows of global bank notes that are methodically and meditatively aligned. In addition to currencies, Montoya’s practice incorporates precious stones, materials and objects to express a multitude of ideas exploring the notion of value. The works generate a discourse on nationalism, commodities and the universal consequences of the production and distribution of wealth.
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Especially for Context, Santiago unveils a new series of ‘Let’s Do The Numbers’ incorporating bank notes that have been gilded with 24 Karat gold leaf.

“Every day I would drive to my studio listening to the radio and there was this segment of the program called ‘Let’s do the numbers’, which was about the economy in the world, with the most important current events. All of a sudden I had a spark of lucidity and, bang, the series was born.” – Santiago Montoya.

This body of work questions the multi-faceted and multi-layered relationship that we have with global financial, numerical and monetary systems. Montoya transforms and transcends this ubiquitous medium into extraordinary works of art that challenge and seduce. The dreams and delusions of wealth and power are simultaneously conveyed in monumental works that capture the complexities of our time.
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At first sight, the visual impact of Santiago Montoya’s epic work is a vibration of colour, abstraction, meticulous detail and immaculate arrangements that dazzle the viewer. It is only upon close inspection that the artist’s medium is revealed - infinite rows of global bank notes that are methodically and meditatively aligned.

The viewer is immediately absorbed by the painstaking labour involved to create these vistas of colour and pattern, often punctuated by arresting texts. The seductive colour palette and imagery belies the more unsettling issues that Montoya highlights and questions. Beyond the aesthetic impact, Montoya implicitly investigates the fundamental fabric of our society, and its systems and hierarchies that are the framework for the world we inhabit.
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Exhibiting Artists