October 19 – November 3, 2019
Arte Bettina
3rd Level, Greenbelt 5, Makati City
Surrealism stalks the imagination of Josue Mangrobang, Jr.. The artist is able to traverse through the boundaries of reality and fantasy, existence and wishful thinking, inviting the viewer to surrender himself to the artist’s symbolic narrative that is by turns subversive and alienating, as witness the floating chessboard of “Stalemate,” the smashed head of a marble sculpture in “A Mind Of Its Own,” and the adorable infant growing into a young girl with her appealing innocence in “A Memory Trace.”
The “Unravelling Bettina Series” presents its latest visual exploration titled “What Makes A story, A Story?” now on view at Arte Bettina.
While essentially visual, paintings are triggers for narratives and story-telling. Also called “literary painting,” they provide the viewer with subtle hints of experiences and emotions generated by personal experiences, memories, or historical events. A sense of unfolding is generated by intriguing imagery and fantasies, drawn from biographical information, allusions to fiction, comic, or cinematic characters, inviting the viewer to synthesize confounding or disparate images into a cohesive tale or story.
Participating artists are:
Josue Mangrobang Jr., Jerry Morada, Julmard Vicente, Riza Romero, Jovan Benito, Gino Nagret, and Malyn Bonayog
Through her art, Malyn Bonayog relives all the bittersweet memories of her past life, as vivid today as when she first experienced them, triggered by specific locations and residences which embody the private spaces, now unpeopled, deserted, aching in their state of abandon, while the subject, the artist herself, unseen, now with cool graphic detachment, maps out the geography of her life.
Transporting us to native folk territory, Jovan Benito waxes nostalgic for the customs and traditions of our country, washing over us, in the present contemporary context, as almost unreal, culled from old Filipino movies, reminding us of our lolos and lolas, still clad in picturesque native wear, as shapers and influencers of our lives.
Julmard Vicente creates a delightful phantasmagoria of childhood steeped in Pop images of Disney, suggestive of a child living through the adventures of Tom and Jerry, Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. The unsettling, lurking presence of a tiger hovering in his face, dream-like, indicates a danger that may the end the days of innocence.
“Beautiful Tragedy” by Gino Nagret is the unblushing pale pink of a Mysterious Woman, clearly more an apparition than a figment of the artist’s imagination. Theatrically presented, fashionably fit for a Masque Ball, the subject is pure sophistication, mystery and seduction. It is a tale that could have emerged from the pen of a contemporary Edgar Allan Poe.
Though it depicts the image of a fierce, wild animal, Jerry Morada’s “Nightlife” is more a reflection of a psychological state. The orb of the moon may loom in the distant skies, but not a shade of darkness pervades the scene. Through this visual disconnect of image and atmosphere, the viewer may surmise that the kingdom of Night, with the personal demons emerging at the Witching Hour, can intimately haunt us even during the glare of Daylight. Such visual enigmas have the power to lure the mind into the web of an unfolding story.
– CID REYES
Arte Bettina is located at 3rd Level, Greenbelt 5, Makati City.
For inquiries: 0916 647 4984 / 0929 276 8355
info@artebettina.com | www.artebettina.com
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