Santiago X is an Indigenous American multidisciplinary artist and architect working in

land art Land art, variously known as Earth art, environmental art, and Earthworks, is an art movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, largely associated with Great Britain and the United StatesArt in the modern era: A guide to styles, schools, & mo ...

, architecture, new media, and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

music. Born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1982, he is an enrolled citizen of the

Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana (Coushatta: ''Kowassaatiha'') is one of three federally recognized tribes of Koasati people. They are located in Allen and Jefferson Davis Parishes, Louisiana. The tribe hosts an annual pow wow during the sec ...

(Koasati) and Indigenous Chamoru from the Island of Guam U.S.A ( Hacha'Maori). X considers himself an Indigenous Futurist. In 2020, he was commissioned by the U.S. State Department to serve as lead artist of The American Arts Incubator, Brazil. As part of the 2019

Chicago Architecture Biennial The Chicago Architecture Biennial is an international exhibition of architectural ideas, projects and displays. It seeks "to provide a platform for groundbreaking architectural projects and spatial experiments that demonstrate how creativity and ...

, X mounted two public installations along the Chicago and Des Plaines Rivers consisting of

mound A mound is a wikt:heaped, heaped pile of soil, earth, gravel, sand, rock (geology), rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded ...

effigies and was the first Native American to be represented at the Biennial. Santiago X received a Bachelors of Environmental Design from the University of Colorado, a Masters of Architecture from the University of Southern California, and a Masters of Fine Arts Studio in Art and Technology from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Exhibitions

Since 2016, Santiago X has exhibited and created installations and land art internationally. In fall of 2019, Santiago X showed the piece S''OLOKCI ITABITKA (WHERE GHOSTS DANCE)'' at the ''Making Space for Resistance: Past, Present, Future'' exhibition curated by the Indigenous Scholars of Architecture, Planning and Design at the Yale School of Architecture. In 2019, his work ''HAYO TIKBA (THE FIRE INSIDE)'' was commissioned by the Chicago Architecture Biennial. In 2018, he exhibited the light and sound work ''THE RETURN (o:lači okhiča)'' at ArsElectronica in Linz, Austria. His work was also featured in PORTAL a virtual reality exhibition, Expo 2010 Shanghai, and the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

Awards and recognition

* New City Top 50 Artist (2020) * 3Arts Award (2019)

References

{{Authority control American people of Chamorro descent Artists from Phoenix, Arizona Artists from Chicago Black Native American people Koasati people Native American installation artists Native American musicians