SANTLOFER, Jonathan 1946-

PERSONAL: Born April 26, 1946, in New York, NY; son of Louis and Edith (Brill) Santlofer; married Joy Katzman; children: Doria. Education: Boston University, B.F.A., 1967; Pratt Institute, M.F.A., 1969.

ADDRESSES: Office—c/o James Graham & Sons, 1014 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10021-0103; c/o Jim Kempner Fine Art, 501 West 23rd St., New York, NY 10011-1102.

CAREER: Artist and writer. Jersey City State College, Jersey City, NJ, instructor of studio and art history, 1974-80; New School for Social Research, New York, NY, teacher of art history, 1976; Lacoste School of the Arts, instructor of drawing and painting, 1992; Vermont Studio Center, instructor and resident artist, 1991; Columbia University, New York, instructor of drawing and painting, 1988-90. Member, Yaddo board of directors. Exhibitions: Work exhibited in solo and group shows worldwide and contained in permanent collections, including Art Institute of Chicago, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, CA, Institute of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, MI, and Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, and in private and corporate collections.

AWARDS, HONORS: National Endowment for the Arts grants, 1981, 1989; visiting artist residencies at Vermont Studio Center; American Academy, Rome, Italy, visiting artist.

WRITINGS:

The Death Artist, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2002.

Color Blind, William Morrow (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to periodicals and journals.

SIDELIGHTS: Artist Jonathan Santlofer's work has been exhibited in one-person shows and dozens of group shows. Many permanent collections contain his abstract art and multimedia works in which he incorporates photographic images and objects, including carved sculpture, to create a hybrid of the abstract and the real. Santlofer's work has been said to contain elements similar to the styles of Henri Matisse and Vincent Van Gogh, as well as to cubism, futurism, and expressionism.

Santlofer retreated to Rome after five years' worth of his work was destroyed in a 1989 Chicago gallery fire. In addition to studying Renaissance and Baroque art and working in his own evolving style, Santlofer began to write fiction. His debut novel, The Death Artist, is about a series of killings in which the murders are staged to resemble classic paintings. A female victim is found with her face slashed to resemble a Pablo Picasso portrait. In addition, the killer sends collages to his future victims that contain clues about the planned crimes. Kate McKinnon Rothstein, a retired police officer turned art historian, socialite, and public television host, is tapped to help solve the murders plaguing New York's art scene.

Reviewing The Death Artist, a Kirkus Reviews contributor said that "as critics, dealers, and collectors gather in Venice for an exhibit depicting corpses and dismembered animals, Santlofer makes it clear that contemporary art and real life have merged." "The exploration of the psychology of the death artist, along with gossipy insights into the politics of art, make this book a bloody funfest for the museum and gallery crowd," added a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Interview, November, 1998, Diane Keaton, "The Art of Getting Inside" (interview), p. 74.

Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2002, review of The Death Artist, p. 913.

New York Times, September 8, 2002, Marcelle Clements, review of The Death Artist, p. 13.

People, September 30, 2002, Arion Berger, review of The Death Artist, p. 49.

Publishers Weekly, July 15, 2002, review of The Death Artist, p. 53.

USA Today, September 26, 2002, Jackie Pray, review of The Death Artist.

ONLINE

BookBrowser,http://www.bookbrowser.com/ (July 22, 2002), Harriet Klausner, review of The Death Artist.

BookPage,http://www.bookpage.com/ (October 22, 2002), C. L. Ross, review of The Death Artist.