Jake Santos - Kissy Face
2025 | JAKE SANTOS
KISSY FACE
TORONTO
March 13 - May 3, 2025
Opening Reception: Thursday March 13, 6-8 pm
Jake Santos, Slight, 2024, Acrylic Ink on Wood Panel, 8 x 6 in.
Blouin Division is pleased to present Kissy Face by Jake Santos in the project space.
Kissy Face is a collection of portraits that explore the nuanced boundaries between intimacy and voyeurism, probing the complex nature of looking and the point at which observation becomes perverse. Drawing from personal social media accounts, films, and image archives, the exhibition subverts the interplay between the personal and the intimate, challenging viewers to consider where intimacy becomes abstract.
The portraits feature men reminiscent of the idyllic figures from the artist’s hometown, stills from films he encountered too young to fully understand, and mutual social media followers. These images collectively examine the experience of looking outward, positioning the viewer as a voyeur within a broader narrative that exists beyond themselves.
The title Kissy Face evokes a sense of discomfort and juvenile playfulness, reflecting the intimacy of the experience while simultaneously highlighting its inherent awkwardness. It captures an action that is suggestive, focusing on expressions, glances, and gestures rather than physical exchanges. Through this lens, the exhibition invites a deeper contemplation of how we engage with images and the stories they tell.
Jake Santos (b. 2004) is a Toronto-based artist, working primarily in Airbrush painting within a photographic painting tradition. He studies currently at OCAD University, for his BFA in the DRPT program. Fascinated by the spiritual architecture of images, Jake's imagery aims to explore desire, memory and the sublime. Pulling images from a multitude of media and platforms, the vast collage of references is an examination of the sublime within the picture.