Jessa Almirol
September 8 — October 7, 2023
Opening
September 8 | 6 PM
Gravity Art Space
1810 Mother Ignacia Ave, Diliman, Quezon City
Transport yourself to another realm in Jessa Almirol’s first solo exhibition titled Pantsdrunk opening here at GAS this Friday, September 8 at 6:00 PM.
When Almirol first articulated her vision in 2021, she named the work after what she found to be the idea closest to it: päntsdrunk, a Finnish tradition of being alone, stripping to one’s underwear and enjoying a drink. But Almirol’s Pantsdrunk is an expansion of that idea, to embody a state of mind wherein being physically alone is being in one’s own spiritual plane; letting go is not just the stripping away of excess clothing but also of all external demands; and enjoyment is being in complete indulgence of one’s self and one’s needs.
Pantsdrunk represents a milestone for Almirol, an organic evolution in her figurative-painting practice as it lays bare her later training in and teaching of the old European masters’ classical techniques. In contrast to ultra-realism’s penchant for details, the classical discipline employs the simplification of elements to deliver a feeling of realness. This has allowed Almirol to expand her sights beyond the obvious and express her vision more in terms of color, shape and space, all for which she has found herself more in playful control and enjoyment. And as she further explored these more abstract elements, she has found that her work and process have more and more become unconsciously influenced by early 20th century art movements she had always admired: the De Stijl in her use of swathes of color and the simplest of elements to achieve harmony and the Bauhaus in her use of only the essentials to functionally deliver her vision. There is beautiful symmetry in that as she was fleshing out her idea of Pantsdrunk, Almirol was likewise able to shed the excesses of her own visual language and indulge in forms and elements that she has always had inside her.
Words by Byron Ong
