Jose Solis III: Totems and Chandeliers

Jose Solis is imaginative and the pieces he created for Second Seating combine many disparate elements. His chandeliers and totems are fanciful and quirky. And quite irresistible.
I first saw Jose's work years ago in a studio he shared at the Gribble Stamp Company with Ted Estrada. They used to invite people over to see new work and that's when I found his idiosyncratic wall pieces made with cans and wire, marbles and paint.

I bought one of his wall pieces for the Greater East End District and its sun shape has become one of their secondary logos. At the time, the management district offices were on the second floor of the Laredo National Bank on Harrisburg. Entering my office one morning, I discovered several big metal boxes connected by wide metal conduit on the wall over my desk. The bank had installed a neon sign on the outside of its building and all of the signs 'workings' were exposed on the wall of my office and were not a very pretty sight.

However, I knew who to call to make this mess of electrical boxes into a work of art. Jose created a series of pieces made with juice and coffee cans, more marbles and bits of metal and when he installed the work on all those electrical boxes, we had something wonderful.
Jose makes art filled with sly humor and quirky references. His work for Second Seating is a must see. And each of his chandeliers and totems is certainly a 'must-buy-and-take-home'.