Art Gallery Asia presents ‘Senses & Beyond’ in Singapore

MANILA, Philippines - A special group exhibition, organized in part by Art Gallery Asia recently opened in Singapore. Exploring the nature of art beyond the static nature of its medium, Josue Mangrobang, Malyn Bonayog, Nelson Bosita and Rene Cuvos, use their respective contemporary visual art practices to examine the different sets of reality that exists within them. The exhibition is a record of what they have encountered during this journey — and points to what might await them at the end of their respective paths.

These four Filipino artists, all products of the University of the Philippines’ College of Fine Arts, share their individual expeditions into underlying realities that exists below the surface of everyday life in this fascinating exhibition at Singapore’s One East Asia’s ArtSpace. Titled “Senses & Beyond,” the exhibition scrutinizes the relationship between our physical reality and the metaphysical possibilities of worlds beyond our own. The works of the four artists are exhibited at 15 Scotts Road #15-08-09 Thong Teck Building, Singapore. Guest of Honour during the opening included none other than Her Excellency Minda Calagulan-Cruz, the Philippine Ambassador to Singapore.

Each artist brings his own take on the nature of realties. Nelson Bosita, for instance, is an artist who dares presents his figures in compromised situations. The artist clearly possesses the technical aptitude to achieve his aim of presenting contrasts, but it is his conceptual nous that allows him to stand out from an already overcrowded art scene that is bristling with talent but often lacks the disciplined focus necessary to convey a message. If there is any lingering doubt over Nabosita’s ability to do just that, one merely has to consider how his oeuvre examines the twin contrasts of society — religion and science. Bosita’s case is that the nuances of secular and religious tensions are not only haunting, but serve to debase our core humanity.

Josue Mangrobang, on the other hand, concerns himself with the concept and process of growth. His figures are often in a state of transition, and his palette choices reflect this leaning. Floating figures are often set against the motifs of an earlier age — toys, prams, etc. — and the idea of a past and present is offered simultaneously. Mangrobang’s oeuvre is a wave of in which the transitions in life seem to considered and nuanced as opposed to being merely linear. The artist also shows great skill with anatomy, as seen in the scrupulous attention to the limbs, hand and legs, done with great detail.

Memory and the passage of time are the conceptual themes of Malyn Bonayog. Through a painting practice, she relates the concepts of generation gaps and the passage of time that is, in many ways, more ambitious than Mangrobang, who has a very similar approach. But while Mangrobang is concerned with individual lifespans, however, Bonayog concerns herself with the generational relationships between two disparate, yet ultimately related, points. And for her, the passage of time is not an abstract idea, but a human experience. Her oeuvre draws from a variety of media, including photography, print, and film, and plunges into the consciousness of her nous. Because of these very different media references, her aesthetics tend to be more linear — in a sense, they are figuratively abstracted. Nontheless, she manages to instill an aura of dynamism around her works, which is keeping with the dim view contemporary art has with static motifs.

Lastly, we arrive at the practice of Rene Cuvos, who is coming off a successful one-man show. With an aesthetic style akin to seeing a childhood wonderland combined with the realities of the atomic age, Cuvos’ oeuvre is filled with wit, verve, and a striking affinity for detail. Cuvos deals with the duality between what is open and what is hidden. His compositions point to a whole range of hand gestures and physical stances as well as to various ancient and modern symbols. It is a charming interplay of visual puns that has seen his stock in the regional art community rise in the last few months.

“Senses & Beyond” is an exhibition that looks at how the imaginations of four unique Filipino artists have informed their respective contemporary art practices. Fearless and original, the exhibition is a testament to the strides that contemporary art has made in the past few years and serves as a definitive survey of the directions it might take in the future.

Art Gallery Asia is at 3F Patriarch Building, 2224 Pasong Tamo cor. Don Bosco Street, Makati City, tel. no. +63917-8943888.