Celeste Lecaroz
September 2-30, 2019
NCCA Gallery
National Commission for Culture and the Arts
633 General Luna St. Intramuros, 1002 Manila, Philippines
While these two spatial concepts are mutually delineating—they are understood as being relative to each other—in historical reality they overlap in varying degrees. Urban spaces are generally conceived as administrative and socio-economic centers, whose built environment contrasts with the naturescape of the rural. But in this photograph exhibit, perhaps a more striking differentiation of “location” in Philippine colonial society at the turn of the nineteenth century is that of unwesternized individuals vis-a-vis colonial subjects. Thus at first glance, modernity seems to define its peripheries.
Celeste Lecaroz’s interpretation of the photographs in her spontaneous realist manner offers a pictorial response to some of the foregoing interrogations. The vigorous strokes and vibrant colors that characterize her paintings usher the viewer to a fresh appreciation of the photographs, and at the same time, to feel the subjects’ contemporaneity.
The photographs on exhibit were selected from the personal collection of Dr. Bernardita R. Churchill, president of the Philippine National Historical Society and founding member of the Manila Studies Association. As part of her lifelong dedication to Philippine history, the public display of the photographs as a form of historical knowledge is another and no less effective way of cultivating interest in history. This is the third exhibit featuring photographs from her collection sponsored by the NCCA. – Marya Svetlana Camacho, Ph.D.
The NCCA Gallery is located at 633 General Luna St., Intramuros, Manila. For inquiries, please call 527-2192 loc.324 and 328 or email us at gallery@ncca.gov.ph, nccagallery09@gmail.com, or visit our website at www.ncca.gov.ph.
