Sanitlari Paintings and Drawings

referencing contemporary life. Tin foil, plas- tic shrink wrap and cell phones are rendered as meticulously as bread or skin. These ele- ments, taken together, depict the artists’ world: a secular, democratic, and capitalistic Spain that has endured great change over many centuries while maintaining its dis- tinct identity. As natives of Catalonia, the Santilaris also carry an awareness of that region’s distinct cultural and artistic heritage, which includes a strong tradition of Realism. In the nine- teenth century, Realism was introduced to Spain through the work of the Catalan painter Ramón Martí Alsina, who studied the work of Courbet in Paris in 1848 , and returned to disseminate his reinvigorated style. This tra- dition remained strong in the region, and can be seen more recently in the work of contem- porary Catalan realists such as Roca di Costa, Carlos Morago, and Jeorge Gallego.

Since 1978 , when Pere Santilari won the Epígrafe 35 prize and Josep Santilari the Raimon Maragall i Noble prize at the presti- gious Sala Parés in Barcelona, they have been in numerous one-man and group exhibitions across Europe, and both exhibit regularly at the Galeria Artur Ramon. In 2010 , their work was displayed at a monographic retrospective at the Aberlmarle Gallery in London. Their work is featured in collections at the Barce- lona Modern Art Museum, the Municipal Art Museum of Pollença (Majorca), the Vila Casas Foundations in Barcelona and Torroella de Montgrí. The Santilari brothers share a studio, each producing approximately three paintings and four drawings each per year. This is the first time their work will be exhibited in the United States.