Jon Cuyson
May 7 – 31, 2022
Galleria Duemila
210 Loring Street, Pasay City
Galleria Duemila presents a solo exhibition of abstract paintings from interdisciplinary artist Jon Cuyson. SOS is part of an ongoing body of work from the artist who works in the intersection of painting, installation and film. The exhibition features paintings and collage works that explore horizontality, materiality and abstraction. In the current context of chaos and anxiety, his works investigate and claim horizontality as a form of resistance to verticality. The artist builds layers of acrylic paint and marks on the canvas, repeating and revising in order to build densities in the surface resulting in an interplay of receding and advancing geometric abstract compositions. Consistent with his interest in the narrative of the sea, Jon Cuyson borrows the maritime code distress signal, SOS (Save Our Ship, Save Our Souls), as exhibition title, and to serve as a conceptual anchor in the paintings that reveal a restrained form of poetic urgency.
“While these paintings were created amidst a period of increasing uncertainty, I consider them to be proposals for contemplation. Much like the sea, these works are symbolic containers of my internal desires and fears, and can be viewed as sites for thinking and self-reflection.” — Jon Cuyson
Untitled (Violet & Black)
acrylic medium on canvas on plywood
91.44 x 137.16 cm / 36.03 x 54.04 in.
2022
Jon Cuyson received his MFA from Columbia University in New York in 2010 and has exhibited locally and internationally, including the group exhibition Motions of This Kind in London in 2019. SOS will open on May 10, 2022 at Galleria Duemila.
Galleria Duemila’s Podcast: Artists’ Talks
Interdisciplinary Artist, Jon Cuyson and Artist-Curator, Ringo Bunoan investigates their process as artists, and discuss how Cuyson’s ongoing exhibition, SOS (Save Our Ship, Save Our Souls), draws inspiration from the sea and its plethora of references.
“…it is the oldest form of travelling, it is the oldest element that we have. In a way the horizontality of its philosophical references connecting to these experiences, be it emotional, psychological, metaphorical…is where the narrative of the sea comes in.”
– Jon Cuyson
Artist’s Biography
Jon Cuyson began exhibiting his paintings in Manila in 1998. In 2004, he participated in group and solo exhibitions in Europe before moving to New York to participate in residencies in Vermont and Skowhegan, Maine. He received his MFA from Columbia University, New York in 2010. His works employ different techniques and media including texts, photographs, drawing, painting, artist books, sculpture, video and installation. His artistic practice investigates the complex intersections of art, history, culture, and their relationship to Filipino diaspora, and identity.
Untitled (Blue & Gray)
acrylic medium on canvas on plywood
60.96 x 91.44 cm / 24.02 x 36.03 in.
2022
His work has been shown in a number of local and international exhibitions, including Motions Of This Kind, Brunei Gallery, UCL, London, England (2019), South by Southeast, Times Museum, Guangzhou (2016); Radiation, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok (2014); Me Love You Long Time, Aljira, Newark, New Jersey (2012); Lost In Your Eyes/Foreign Correspondant, FormContent Gallery, London (2009); Musee Du Louvre, The Royal Academy of Art, London (2008); AIM 27 Here and Elsewhere, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx City, New York (2007).
Jon Cuyson currently lives and works in Manila where he continues to teach while working on his diverse artistic practice.
SOS by Jon Cuyson will run from May 10 – 31, 2022 at Galleria Duemila, 210 Loring St. Pasay City.
Book your Visit
To schedule your visit or to gain more information about the exhibition, you may book your appointment or reach at
Tel. No. +632 8831 9990;
Telefax No. +632 8833 9815,
Email: art@galleriaduemila.com & sales.art@galleriaduemila.com
