Kenichi Wani & Rups Kiddo | Two-man Exhibition
January 14 – February 4, 2023
Opening Night
January 14 | 4 PM
Modeka Creative Space
20A La Fuerza Plaza 1, 2241 Don Chino Roces Avenue, 1231 Makati
We need reminding that life is meant to be lived in paps of color. Raps Kiddo and Kenichi Wani, visual artists who aren’t afraid of color, fulfill just that role. Instead, Rups and Kenichi attack their canvasses with neon hues and vivid pastels, instantly splattering any room with their sensory attacks.
Their fearless forays into the color wheel blend attractively with their choice of subjects, with Rups offering an array of cool characters that populate the artist’s world, while Kenichi focuses on Odi, his rotund protagonist, as Odi bounces through life.
The fact that Rups’ characters have four eyes (hidden behind their own spectacles, making it at least six) barely seems to matter, what with their green, orange or blue tresses, and their unicorn horns, woven braids, and kerchief scarves. There is detail piled upon detail, yet despite this wealth of focal points, there is no sensory overload. Nothing in Rups’ candy-cane canvasses is too difficult to absorb.
Instead, Rups makes us want to consume her creations, gorge ourselves on them, and devour them absolutely. Oh, what’s another ice cream bar or lollipop to complete our day?
Odi, in turn, brings his friends along for wholesome but calorie-laden playground adventures. We walk with them in cotton candy forests, snacking on jellybeans and profiteroles. Donuts with jelly eyes wink at us, while our tongues simply cannot separate from that lollie. We are lost in Kenichi Wani’s bonbon universe – and we do not want to escape.
The show was conceived as a paean to the alternative universe of pop imagery, of cheery homage to confectionary and ices. Calories are meant to be consumed, after all.
And we are glad to partake, guilt or no guilt.
Curatorial Notes by JT Gonzales
