Thursday, October 30, 2014

Fixation Exhibition

                                                Convergence II, mixed media, 2014 

Fixation at KAIDA Contemporary


 Fixation gathers works that evoke the obsession of featured artists Demosthenes Campos, Noell El Farol, Jethro Jocson, Jemina Reyes and Pinggot Zulueta to express their concepts, sensibilities and life principles through abstract painting. Colors, forms and lines are interpreted in myriad renditions, visually enticing the audience to explore the depths of artistic expression.

In Noell El Farol’s Stratigraphy series, he explores the recovery process in archaeological practice in retrieving artifacts with a painstaking process involving wet sieving and flotation. El Farol manually produces handmade paper from juice and milk packages and collected papers from studio works, then marks them with natural pigments. As such, the output may be considered as field notes with its own set of recovered, then reconstructed, footprints.

Jethro Jocson, on the other hand, continues to delve into his scrutiny of value and worth as he questions "If matter is anything that occupies space and has weight, what matters most?" in Perseverance and Compatibility with process colors carefully swathed on stark white canvas.

In Demosthenes Campos’ Detached, he halves his plane of textured and unbleached Titanium White with a floating patch rendered in different colors.

Jemina Reyes, meanwhile, in Beyond, fixates on the spiritual. She closes off the center of her painting with a light border suggesting that the physical world is bound by limits, yet there are things beyond the human plane of awareness.

Pinggot Zulueta introduces a network of thin lines forming a multi-planed enclosure that seemingly captures blocked off shapes and dashes in Convergence 11, and utilizes slashes and stripes that give a visual rendering of beats and free rhythms in Straight Line from the Heart.  

Whether inspired by processes used in archaeology, valuing worth in matter, minimalist detachment, longing for the beyond, or simply celebrating bursts of lively colors and musicality in form, the paintings are exposed to one's personal signification -- interpretation fully depending on the viewers, their compulsions and inclinations, what they hold fast and what they are willing to let go of.

Fixation will be on show until November 12, 2014. Kaida Contemporary is located at 45 Scout Madriñan St., South Triangle, Quezon City. For inquiries, please contact +637090289 or +639279297129, and email kaida529@yahoo.com.ph.

Langkawi Art Biennale 2014, Malaysia

with former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at the Langkawi Art Bienalle 2014.


Art in Migration

Text by Jacky Lynne A. Oiga

October 13, 2014

http://www.mb.com.ph/art-in-migration/

Visual artist and photographer Pinggot Zulueta along with other renowned and up-and-coming Filipino artist come together to represent the Philippines at the Langkawi Art Biennale 2014 (LAB 2014) that opened yesterday and will run until Oct. 21 at the Langkawi Lagoon Resort in Pulau Langkawi, Kedah.

The first Malaysian Art Biennale, LAB 2014 was organized by the ArtMalaysia Association, supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia to see out possibilities for expression in contemporary art within the context of Langkawi by showcasing the work of local Malaysian artists and international artists from over 40 countries. It is Malaysia’s first distinguished platform for international dialogue in fine and contemporary art. LAB2014 aspires to offer new exposure for artists, art associations, and businesses, at the same time infusing deeper public engagement with the arts.

With the theme “Migration,” Zulueta, together with Darby Alcoseba, Frank Caña, Rosscapili, Joel Cristobal, Buds Convocar, John Dinglasa, Joel E. Ferraris, Merlito Gepte, Rick Hernandez, Rem San Pedro, Celso Pepito, Fe Madrid Pepito, Simkin de Pio, Jik Villanueva, and Sonia Yrastorza, each came up with three art pieces that reflect cultures that meld together in a constant state of influx. The theme is also symbolic of artists coming together to a new destination that offers nature, beauty, and inspiration.

Among the activities lined up for the 10-day biennale are Peletakan Orang-orang (Interactive Installation of Scarecrows), Gotong-royong Angkat Rumah (an old Malaysian custom where villagers gather to help some move his house, similar, albeit purely literal, to the Filipino concept bayanihan), and the Malaysian and Chinese exhibition “Friendship is Forever.”