MANILA, Philippines - In Luisito Balmes’ “Element” exhibition on view at Galerie Stephanie until July 31, round abstract expressionist works take on the idea of the famous symbol of oneness in Taoism, the round “yin and yang.”
His method of putting basic colors together recalls how a color wheel, when spun fast enough, reflects not a rainbow, but rather, pure white light. The artist also reflects on how painting could be a metaphor for life.
“Each paint reacts differently from the other,” he says. “And each paint has a life cycle. Some dry faster than others. Some are easier to apply. Some paints do not mix well together. Harmony comes when we get to know all of the paints and work with them, instead of imposing on them what we want. By working with the paint and the canvas, we achieve depth and a variety of colors and expressions that is effortless.”
In Balmes’ work, we are celebrating not a way of seeing, as many art movements have done in the past, but a way of making. In his effortless canvases, we remember the joy of discovery when we discover things for the first time: in his instance, how paint flows, how canvas absorbs it, and what colors are and how it affects us. It is discovering the very nature of his materials and collaborating with them — coaxing them to merge together, and not impose some pattern or some idea on them. Balmes’ act of making reminds viewers of the unity in things, and with this the artist is truly in his element.
“Element I” and “Element XVII”
Galerie Stephanie is at Parc Plaza Building 183 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., C-5, Libis, Quezon City. For details, call 709-1488, email inquiry.galeriestephanie@gmail.com, or visit www.galeriestephanie.com.