Against the Riptide

A group exhibition

January 17-28, 2020

Opening Reception
Friday, January 17 | 6 PM – 10 PM

Art Underground
814 Balagtas St., Barangay Addition Hills, 1550 Mandaluyong

Digression As Artistic Device: Notes on “Against the Riptide”

Group Exhibit of Angono Artists at Art Undergound Manila

“Against The Riptide” presents the “unusual” latest works of Sarah Geneblazo, Chito Borja, Jerome Choco, Pabsie Martus, Winslomer Delos Santos, Jefkin Bienes, Jana Mendoza, and Jie Adamat at Art Undergound Manila on Friday, January 17, 2020.

These are unsual pieces because the show’s idea hinges on deviation from their normative and existing creative narrative and process. The artworks digress and emerge from their contemporary art practice – occurring from self-rapport and reflection and producing pieces working across boundaries of self, gender and sexuality, and memory.

For instance, Jana Mendoza’s “Second Love” features a self-portrait as analogous to self-love and care. “I always give my attention to others first — to my family, my work, my career , my life. But now, its my time to shine, to be seen, to be exposed, to be heard and to be at the frontline. Its not selfish, its self-love,” she says.

Painter and musician Jerome Choco also presents himself as subject, a shift from his past two exhibits that showed his fellow musicians in their surprising and unexpected moments. In his self-portrait, Choco wears his St. Clement Symphonic Band uniform and seems to be in trance but aware, enjoying the music and “eargasm”.

Sarah Geneblazo, meanwhile, sees herself as a devoted and responsible sister. Her work titled “Interconnected Love” shows her six sisters and herself embracing one another, a catharthic signifier of the interconnected relationship of her family filled with love and support to overcome trauma and hardship, with she as the eldest and the family’s sole bread winner.

These interconnectivity and support are likewise amplified in the beehive artwork of Pabsie Martus titled “Remnants,” in which she highlighted the imbalance and disruption of the eco-system and pollination caused by waste and pollution. The hive now produces blue, green and dark red liquid instead of yellow honey — which is dominant on Pabsie’s body of works — because the bees were fed on discarded M&M candies dumped within the bees’ immediate environ.

“Precious” by Jefkin Bienes displays a portrait of his son who serves as his inspiration in life. A clock reflecting on the child’s eye emphasizes the importance of spending precious time and sharing memories with him.

Winslomer Delos Santos and Chito Borja engage on memory as artistic tool. “Back to Past” by Delos Santos shows an old and broken arcade used for gaming which he and his friends played in the 1980s to mark and long for their happy childhood.

An apartment type cemetery dominates Chito Borja’s “Flat” artwork, an image that lingers on his memory after visiting and cleaning his older brother’s tomb. The structure looks like a building or cityscape, but Chito used resin as medium instead of staple wires which have defined his recent works.

Jie Adamat’s “Then She Kissed Her” is a shaped canvas artwork resembling the succulent plant which has the ability to live even without water for a long time. It is a metaphor for a tedious and continuing struggle of LGBTs on issues such as same-sex relationship and love, equal rights, and for a society that completely accepts their identity.

“Against The Riptide” proves that conversation with one’s past becomes an integral part of the artpiece or work itself. The output shows the artist operating as an insider and occupying a position of perceived artistic and cultural authority.

In this sense, the attempt of “Against The Riptide” artists to experiment away from their usual medium and theme has shown their skills to produce artistic grace and visual eloquence.

Text by Richard R. Gappi