An assemblage of art at Joaquín

It is not always that one walks in a gallery and see cheerful works. More often than not, gallery or even museum exhibitions these days draw power from somber works that take on issues of national and international import or works that capitalize on distorting, attenuating and even maiming the human figure to emphasize despair, if not outright disenfranchisement, of man in society today.

The recent exhibit at Galerie Joaquín was a welcome visual fare. Entitled Pour l’Amour, it was the gallery’s inimitable way to celebrate love, courtship and romance through art. The choice of theme was understandable since a large part of the exhibition run happened in the month of hearts, February.

The exhibit featured a happy combination of established names in art led by Gig de Pio and young artists led by his son, Vincent, who pooled their creative talents together to mount this good-looking and highly colorful show. Included in the exhibit were two works by the late Onib Olmedo from the family collection; they, too, are bereft of the accustomed angst that reeked in much of Onib’s oeuvres.

A charming facet of the exhibit was the blending of highly representational works on one hand and abstract images on the other derivative of the theme through color patches, textures and almost calligraphic application of pigments on canvas.

Gig de Pio, famous for his pastel portraits, fragranced the collection with his still life of a bunch of red roses on a rundown tin bucket aptly entitled "Chanson d’Amour." Executed in the artist’s favorite medium, which is pastel on paper, the still life, resting on an easel by the corner of the room, welcomed the viewer to the main gallery hall at the second floor. Its silence bathes the work an aura of mystique. As such, it speaks volume of how flowers can actually reverberate with paeans of love and devotion. The strength of the work lies on the innate dexterity of De Pio to make the reds (the roses) jut out of the predominantly green color field background. A spattering of dainty white dots, dabs and dashes adds to the delicacy of the picture.

Celebrating the pulchritude of ladylove was Lydia Velasco’s "Figure with Red Scarf." The expressionistic work essays the female nude form in bold strokes of green and yellow against a blue background. The red color of the snaking scarf from top to bottom of canvas cheers up the composition. The sculptural rendering of the serpentine female form is almost Michelangelesque in appeal.

The same attitude informed the works of Onib. In "Two Figures," executed in oil pastel on velour, the almost monochromatic work in blue fragments the human form in various geometric shapes conjoined together, some overlapping one another, others repetitive to suggest rhythmic movement. The orchestration of these compositional devices displays in cogent terms the masterful manipulation of the transparent medium by Onib.

The act of kiss, long time a favorite subject in many great works of art from Auguste Rodin to Gustav Klimt, was resurrected in the works of Egai Fernandez ("Magkapuso") and Manny Garibay ("The Kiss"). The two works were done in acrylic on canvas. Fernandez closes up on the tender act between two jesters, devoid of extraneous details and expressed in homogeneous hues of red. Garibay, for his part, opts for a long show view of the act, intimating two intertwining figures in almost Caducean embrace.

Maverick artist Marcel Antonio proved that he can be proficient in the representational idiom as well as shown by the works he contributed to the show. "Woman with Cards" is a tease on the importance love struck people give to divining fate or destiny through the oracle of the cards. An intimation of Henri Matisse’s "Red Studio" informs the work, only to be perked by the green dress the central figure is draped with, thus providing unsettling contrast, if not dynamism, to the piece. For isn’t it always the case that when love comes in to one’s system, everything turns upside down?

Adding a flavor of nostalgia was Jerry Morada’s "Pag-ibig ni Maria." It documents a doleful tradition of yore where a woman is expected to keep to herself matters of the heart. The female form, almost occupying the right half of the picture plane, is clad in the costumery of the period. She clutches a painting that features a portrait of her love, as portrayed by the image of a man shown floating on the upper left. The connection between the two images is provided by the rose that the woman holds in her hand, the vase that the man is emptying of water, and the white stool in the ambiguous background dipped with water. The symbolism is left to the viewer to unravel. Is it the impossibility of the romance because the man now belongs to another realm? Or it is a case of unrequited love? The imagery Morada used is admittedly conventional, yet the device by which he composes the visual elements, in its alliance to visual fragmentation and image appropriation, remains contemporary in spirit.

Bayani Ray Acala’s "Night Piece" was an eloquent and poignant depiction of the exhibition theme that love indeed is for all. It becomes a convincing statement that the exhibition theme – love, romance and courtship – is not a human monopoly. Presented almost in diptych fashion, the oil painting on canvas shows a sliding capiz window pushed to the left side to reveal a view of a moonlit night on the right. On the windowpane is perched a couple of cats huddled together. No matter how precarious their location is in the tightest and smallest space they can be in, they seem to be secure in the warmth they give to one another. In the comfort of their being together, one in fact is fast asleep, unperturbed by the danger that lurks in the darkness.

Exemplifying the non-representational idiom was "Brazilian Romance" by Gino Tioseco. Installed at the foyer by the stairwell to get to the second level that is the main gallery hall, the 48 x 64 inches acrylic on canvas bursts in a polyphony of colors. Resplendent in the tradition reminiscent of the color field painters, the dominantly yellow work suggests the sunny disposition that climes a romantic interlude. Actual textures are limned in the painting surface to intimate the unevenness of the field that is romance – the more contoured a relationship is, the more exciting it promises.

These were only eight of the works in exhibition. There were 28 more. Other artists in the show were Karina Baluyut, Carlo Magno, Edwin Tres Reyes, Jemina Reyes, Dominic Rubio, Carlos Saavedra, and Bernard Vista.

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For comments, send e-mail to ruben_david.defeo@up.edu.ph.