The Empty Empire – Landscapes from a Bankrupt Nation

This new show covers a range of work taken in locations around the UK in then ten years since I moved out of London and down to the Sussex Coast.

From faded seaside resorts that have been allowed to crumble into the sea; Cities that have had their industrial heart replaced by retail parks; Disused docks over-run with identical apartment blocks; and every town centre seemingly build from the same plan, this collection aims to look behind the façade of the economic boom we have been told we have just lived through and provide a snapshot of where we are as we begin to pay the bill for it.

By looking at the choices we have made about what has been kept, what destroyed and what built in its place, this exhibition is not only about opportunities lost, but the possibility to do things differently if we take back control of our own environments.

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Santiago  Alcon was born in Jerez, Spain and is now living in London.

Santiago studied art in Spain for two years, but says his training was biased towards the ‘traditional’ and classical life drawing. On the conclusion of his course, Santiago visited his sister in Edinburgh, an event  which was to have a profound effect on him. “ I was impressed by the range and diversity of art in the city – it was an awakening for me. I immediately set about enrolling in Edinburgh College of Art.

“Another profound experience for me was my introduction to violence. I was with a group of friends visiting the gay quarter of Edinburgh, when we were set upon by a gang of skinheads, causing serious injury to my friends. This aroused deep anger in me and it affected the quality of my painting, I found myself using strong colours and the emotions aroused by the attack showed up in the intensity of my brush strokes.

“Colour remains very important to me, whether it is the intense blue of the sky in Spain or whether it is the subtlety of the English  skies. However, I am now concentrating more on portraits.”

Santiago’s next exhibition is “Art for Youth” in October in London.

For more images Click Here