Vittorio Santoro (*1962 in Zurich from emigrated Italian parents) is an Italian/Swiss artist based in Paris and Zurich.  

For his works, be they installations, text-drawings, films, sculptures, real-time activities, sculptural situations, films or sound pieces, Vittorio Santoro chooses specific ways to manipulate conventions to desired effects believing that creativity is an ongoing process of continual change and response. His characteristically intricate visual sensibility engenders startling, yet uncanny forms and constellations. Santoro’s works seem rooted in everyday observations but push beyond in order to reveal latent historical, socio-political, and metaphysical realities. His practice conceals a tension between the referential potential of objects and the choreographic nature of their placement in context. In presenting his works, imbued with what might seem an obvious artificiality and abstraction devoid of any obvious explanation, Santoro ensures that the audience maintain an objective perspective on them. The artist is sensitive to the unassuming nature of everyday interactions: he examines the notion of individual agency as it plays out within larger networks of clichés, common ideals, models of authority, or processes involving manipulation and power.   Daniel Kurjakovic, Curator, Kunstmuseum Basel     

The ongoing series of performance-drawings entitled ‘Time Based Text Works’ form an important part of Santoro’s practice:   They are performed on a piece of paper following a simple protocol: the artist chooses a sentence from his mental pool or archive to create a statement that resonates with a poetic or philosophical seriousness, yet also connect us with everyday social moments. He writes the sentence(s) or words in capital letters in a way that imitates a mechanical quality and that is somehow detached from himself while also recording a kind of imprint of himself. He traces the letters of the existing text once a day over a predetermined period of time (usually 6 months, sometimes less). The work has to be done every day, even when he is traveling. The work then travels with him and is therefore folded so that it fits into his bag or suitcase. Folding it up is tangible proof of the journey. The artist doesn't repeat, he insists :  insistence, as a means of breaking down preconceptions and encouraging new readings.