What’s new at Blanc Gallery

MANILA, Philippines - If contemporary art is more up your alley, drop by Blanc Gallery’s new exhibits that just opened last Oct. 12. Blanc has three main rooms, all of which are spaces for three different shows.

The first one is Allan Balisi’s “Five Paintings”, which is made up of five paintings, three of which are in black-and-white. I’m particularly interested in each painting’s possibility for a story. There is no obvious narrative in any of them, but there is enough going on to know that a story exists. However, the details are sparse, so you have no choice but to speculate.

“Whose houses am I looking at?”

“Whose hands are these?”

“What just happened here?”

I’m more used to Balisi’s black-and-white paintings, so seeing some color was a pleasant surprise. Those pieces, “We Only Wanted to Look, Admire, and Leave” and “The More Clocks We Have, the Less Time,” turned out to be my favorites. The muted colors complement the quietness that I’ve associated with Balisi’s work, and they definitely work well with the rest of the show.

In the next room, The Weather Bureau (a.k.a. Lena Cobangbang and Mike Crisostomo) put up “Kingdom Come,” which is an installation of photographs in lightboxes on the floor, as well as a video projected onto the wall. “Kingdom Come” is a scene straight out of science fiction, with the beautifully geometric lightboxes and cross-processed photographs of an angular structure set on craggy cliffs and ridges that glow. The overall effect of this show is absolutely stunning, in a rather unassuming and otherworldly way.

Lastly, in the biggest space of the gallery, Jigger Cruz’s “Grays Between Bold Parallels” is on display. The pieces are chaotic and much more colorful than his earlier work. Cruz’s trademark paint strokes seemed to have engulfed the background, edging closer to the canvas’ edge. Comparing these to his earlier work, there is a marked change. Gone are the traditional, old-style landscapes, used as the backdrop of his frenetic expressions, to highlight the chaos and disorder. In these 10 paintings, there is a noticeable lack of the more subdued backgrounds. Instead, Cruz’s abstract but deliberate lines take center stage.

All the shows are on display until Nov. 2. Blanc Gallery is located at 145 Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City.

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