HIGH ART 2020 SPOTLIGHT: RAFAEL SANTIAGO
“Kool Enlightenment”
Rafael Santiago was born in the South Bronx in 1969. He was accepted into the High School of Art & Design in New York City where he developed his academic skills in color, figure, design and composition. His drawings are organically conceived; using a variety of experimental concepts by combining Inks, Color Dyes, and Micron Pens to produce a unique color palette in his work.
Growing up in New York City during the 70’s he was influenced by the birth of the graffiti movement and cult films. Recently, Rafael has turned his focus to iconic images from Pop Culture. In particular, his latest body of work depicts individuals who have had a resounding affect on society.
In 2005 He was featured in the award winning Burning Man documentary ‚”Beyond Black Rock” by filmmakers Dave Brown & Rob VanAlkemade.
Rafael received his Bachelors of Fine Art from the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
He entered “Kool Enlightenment” during High Art 2020.
See all the art submitted to High Art 2020 at: High Art Finalists
Follow High Art on Instagram! @highartcompetition
High Art was created by Dona Frank and The Natural Cannabis Company in 2014 as a crowdsourcing solution to packaging design. From its humble beginnings, High Art has developed into an internationally-known art competition with thousands of entries annually from 100+ countries all over the world.
Each year professional and amateur artists create themed works through a variety of mediums to compete for $50,000 in prize money and to see their work featured on packaging, social media, at the High Art gallery in Santa Rosa, CA and displayed at prestigious art events, in the United States and abroad.