Lawrence Canto
Opening
October 4, 2020
Secret Fresh
Ronac Art Center, Ortigas Ave, 1502 San Juan, Philippines
Initiated by the idea of oddities in the reproduction of images by a photocopier, Lawrence Canto opens a new solo exhibition this October titled Inside This Faulty Machine. Designed to mechanically reproduce texts and images in the first place, a photocopying machine’s glitches and irregularities can be located in the imperfections of its copies. Canto proceeds from this cue and creates works that resemble photocopied images marked by striking flaws—from the grainy and blurred imprints, to smears and smudges resulting from excessive ink, to repetitive and overlapping figures. In this attempt to mimic erroneous image reproduction, he once again employs the processes he is adept with as a multimedia artist keen on exploring the integration of traditional and digital media. Deviating from his approach in previous exhibitions in which animated videos lift forms from painted and printed pieces, the compositions this time are conceived initially through animation and then translated later as still images by serigraphy and painting—unifying manual, mechanical, and digital methods of reproduction. Despite the intent to render the pieces in the semblance of poorly photocopied pictures, we clearly get a glimpse of their overarching imagery: human figures superimposed on exterior views of buildings and other structures. Conceptualized and produced amid the current pandemic, this collection of works and its elements resonate well with the experience of quarantine and some of the realities that isolation and restricted mobility have brought to the fore.
A graduate of Multimedia Arts and Sciences from Mapua University, Lawrence Canto has been participating in group exhibitions since 2015 and held his first solo show in 2018. He landed as semi-finalist in the 2016 and 2017 Metrobank At and Design Excellence Art Competition in the Oil/ Acrylic Category. He works in intermedia and explores possibilities with combining painting, print, and video to create a more holistic experience in art. Though utilizing new media and technology, his art takes interest in basic questions and assumptions about human nature and mankind’s evolution in relation to his social environment.
This show is curated by Ruel Caasi, in collaboration with the Secret Fresh Gallery X The Working Animals Art Projects (TWA).
The exhibition opens on October 4 at Secret Fresh Gallery, Ronac Art Center, Ortigas Avenue, San Juan City.
