Alejandro Santiago

Art Brokerage: Alejandro Santiago Mexican Artist: b. 1964- 2013. Alejandro Santiago has a way of pulling people into the orbit of his art projects. His current monumental endeavor, 2501 Migrants, has more than 30 workers churning away at Santiago's workshop. Alejandro Santiago and his team are building life-size statues, each with unique features, culminating in a symbolic community that pays homage to those who left his village. Born in 1964 in Teococuilco de Marcos Perez, a small town in the Zapotec sierra of Oaxaca, Santiago's artistic sense is rooted in crafting castillos, bamboo structures with trip-switch firework displays typically made for celebrations in rural Mexico. Santiago left his village at the age of nine when his family moved to Oaxaca City. After formal training in Oaxaca, he pursued his art in the US and Europe for ten years. Alejandro Santiago's work has shown in various cities including Oaxaca City, Paris, Brussels and San Francisco. His dream is that his sculptures will carry a message in exhibits around the world and be able to return to their home in Oaxaca. As a person who has traveled among many worlds, Alejandro Santiago serves as a kind of ambassador between North and South, past and present. Santiago, who was diagnosed with diabetes more than a decade ago, died of a heart attack July 22, 2013 at a hospital in Oaxaca city. He was 49.