ARTMAGEDDON - Igan D’Bayan
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Liv Vinluan’s “Morphine, Mother (And the Impending Extinction of Bees)” at Silverlens
Just as many folks are dusting off selfies taken in Vigan or Venice
and plastering them all over social media as their way of accepting,
uhm, “challenges” (I mean, zombies could be out scrambling for brains in
Makati or Mandaluyong, while these attention-seeking dolts would still
be posting about their lunches, whitening creams, or brag-able books
they don’t actually read), we who love art and deem it essential even
during these pre-apocalypse times get to visit galleries mainly online.
How can you see the revelatory layers in Art Sanchez’s work, the
labyrinthine threads in Raffy Napay’s opus, or the phantasmagoric colors
of a Rodel Tapaya with your wavering, wobbling Internet connection? Not
an ideal situation. The rule for everything nowadays is: adjust or die.
Here are a few shows worth visiting — verily or virtually.
A disclaimer: things might change in a couple of days (we are in a
Luis Buñuel movie and the pandemic is an exterminating dinner party we
can never, ever leave — or like Hotel California), the key is to ask
galleries first as to how they presently conduct operations in our New
Society of Subnormality featuring ill-health officials, dolphin
cavorters, mystery vaccines and ostriches on the loose.
John Marin's “Hungry Years” at Blanc Gallery
Silverlens is relaunching its “Searching Sanctuary” exhibition
curated by Gregory Halili. The show promotes “the imperative and
ever-relevant theme of environmental preservation, displaying a diverse
range of artistic styles and practices — drawings, paintings,
sculptures, and photography — to express the language of conservation
amidst the decline of the natural world.”
Currently on view at silverlensgalleries.com are works by 21 artists:
Pope Bacay, Marionne Contreras, Jigger Cruz, Rocelie Delfin, Patricia
Perez Eustaquio, Dina Gadia, Mark Andy Garcia, Gregory Halili, Paolo
Icasas, Bree Jonson, Pow Martinez, Maya Muñoz, Raffy T. Napay, Wawi
Navarroza, Elaine Navas, Bernardo Pacquing, Christina Quisumbing Ramilo,
Popo San Pascual, Nicole Tee, Ryan Villamael and Liv Vinluan. For
information, email info@silverlensgalleries.com or call +63917-5874011.
.
Dale Erispe’s “Living Code 42” at West Gallery
On view until Sept. 6 at Blanc Gallery, 145 Katipunan Ave. in QC, is
John Marin’s “Relentless Years.” The exhibit intimates life’s “transient
nature and confronts its reality of impermanence.” The artist admitted
to being disturbed, moved and compelled by natural disasters that
wrought havoc in recent months, Abloom in the works are burning trees
and bonfires as well as blossoms upon graves and canines surveying the
carcasses of destruction. The exhibition “locates life’s meaning in its
fleeting moments and opportunities, in the unrelenting drive to cope
with hard times, and the ever-hopeful stance to start anew when things
come to an end.”
This show, curated by Ryan Francis Reyes, is a collaboration between
Blanc Gallery and The Working Animals Art Projects (TWA). Visit Blanc
Gallery at blanc.ph, email info@blanc.ph or call +63920-9276436 for
inquiries.
A digital portrait of Gaby dela Merced and Pia Reyes by Tyang Karyel
Dale Erispe continues to “visualize alternative environments to
ponder on the interaction and conflict between humankind’s actions and
the forces of nature” in his latest show. Erispe’s contemplative
compositions deal with “reflections on ecology, survival, and
co-existence, and he suggests these themes mainly by painting outdoor
views in which natural elements figure alongside man-made structures but
devoid of human presence.” The sense of desolation in Erispe’s
paintings are all the more amplified with what the world is going
through in these pandemic times characterized by curfews, quarantines,
lockdowns and deserted cities of the heart.
This show, curated by Ruel Caasi, is on view until Aug. 29 at West
Gallery, 48 West Ave., Quezon City. Visitors are welcome
by-appointment-only. To make an appointment, contact the gallery at
(02)3411-0336.
Works by Tyang Karyel. Her online exhibit hopes to raise medical funds for her father, hospitalized with COVID.
Lastly, Tyang Karyel is holding an online exhibit (@tyangdynasty on
Instagram) to help raise funds for her father’s hospitalization due to
COVID-19. Since her family owes the hospital more than P3.5 million,
Karyel is creating digital, “Tyanganized” portraits for people in
exchange for cash contributions. Vinyl On Vinyl is also helping out
Tyang raise funds. For information, visit @tyangkaryel on Instagram. You
can also call Inas Amuyo at +63917-8022984 or email
vinylonvinyl@gmail.com, inas.gallerymama@gmail.com.
Artists are — in a way — essential workers, too. Just like musicians
and theater actors, artists are the frontliners of the soul.
* * *
Not accepting “challenges”
@igandbayan on Instagram. For some scary shit, visit
www.igandbayan.com.
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