Painter/printmaker/sculptor and the child of a Mexican immigrant, Manuel Santana was born in Los Angeles in 1927.
Santana moved to Santa Cruz County in 1961, where he started two successful restaurants – Manuel’s in Aptos and Jardines de San Juan in San Juan Bautista. Manuel Santana’s vision for Jardines de San Juan was to create an environment made up of historically significant late 19th century southwestern architecture buildings; including an 1850 adobe, a nickelodeon theatre, and a garden plaza, in walking distance from a California Mission.
As a young man, Santana studied art at Los Angeles State College and at Los Angeles County’s Otis Art Institute. He also studied art privately with Martin Lubner, Morton Dimonstein, and Arnold Mesches. In 1989, Santana began actively painting and sculpting again and spent less and less time in the management of his restaurants.
Manuel traveled many times to Oaxaca, Mexico to develop his skills in lithography. He was asked by the government of Mexico to develop an exhibition for a thirteen city tour, titled “Impressiones – Arte de Manuel Santana”. A quote by Galvez de Aguinaga from the book for the Impressions tour illuminates his art:
“Manuel Santana’s work seamlessly incorporates Mexican traditions with his
Judeo-Christian education – juxtaposing these two very dissimilar worlds – shape
his consciousness, finding a common expression on his canvases, which explode
into a multitude of colors and forms. Viewers can stare at seemingly haphazard
compositions for hours and then realize the images morphing into strokes of paint
coming together unexpectedly to form objects of animals, faces, and images that
inhabit these complex, emotional, impressionistic paintings. The artist describes
these intense feelings overflowing from his canvases as expressions of the terrors
that plague our modern world, with the overwhelming colors and the vivid expressions speaking to both global and personal crises.”
Manuel Santana was chosen as the 2008 Artist of the Year by the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission and they hosted a profile performance featuring Santana’s work on July 18 at the Museum of Art and History in Santa Cruz, California. Santana passed away at the age of 81 on July 8, 2008 – a week before the opening of the exhibit.
Manuel Santana
1927 – 2008
List of Exhibitions:
1994 – “Dialogs in Color” one person show, Pajaro Valley Arts Council & Gallery
1995-2007 – Open Studios of Santa Cruz County, Santana Gallery (periodically)
1997 – Art of Remembrerance: El Dia de los Muertos, Pajaro Valley Arts Council & Gallery
1998 – One person show, Pacific Grove Art Center
2001 – Mi Casa es tu casa 2001 – Pajaro Valley Arts Council & Gallery
2002 – Art Show, Cultural Council of Santa Cruz – Santa Cruz County Government Center
2003 – Public Exhibit, County of Santa Cruz Health Services Agency
2005-2006 – “Impressiones – Arte de Manuel Santana” 13 State Capital Cities tour of the
Republic of Mexico (Oaxaca, Aguas Caliente, San Luis Potosi, Monterrey,
Coyoacan -Mexico City, Tijuana, Queretaro, Saltillo, Morelia, Guadalajara
2006 – One man show, Mohr Gallery – Community School of Music & Arts, Mountain View, CA
2007 – One person art show, Galleria Tonatzin, San Juan Bautista
2007 – The Kettle Three – Three person art show (with Al Johnson & Hildy Berstein)
2008 – Eight Over Eighty – Eight person art show, 2006 – Pajaro Valley Arts Council & Gallery
2008 – Artist of the Year, Santa Cruz County Arts Commission
2013 – Past Artists of the Year, Pajaro Valley Arts Council & Gallery
2013 – Viva Santana, County Bank of Santa Cruz
2015 – Aqui Estamos / We Are Here, Cabrillo Gallery, Aptos, CA