Upon walking inside, the first thing I encountered was some sculptures. One was “A house on fire” by Julie Lluch, which was carved out of terracotta wood. Although the sculpture depicted a rather tragic scene, I found myself more amused at how cartoon-like the details of the carvings were. There were also assembled sculptures namely, “Psychogenic Figure” by Patricia Eustaqui and Edgar Fernandez’s “Kinupot”. I have to say I was impressed, mostly because I was fooled. From afar, I thought someone had merely draped cloth over a piano; after closer inspection, I realized that it only mimicked the shape of a piano. As for Fernandez’s work, it was astounding. The way he was able to recreate the shape of human fingers and feet were beyond impressive.
"Psychogenic Figure" by Patricia Eustaqui.
Walking further, I entered a large room filled with paintings. At the rightmost, it seemed to me that the paintings were either romanticist or realist, since they were paintings of landscapes and portraits. The techniques used in these paintings were definitely remarkable; however, it lacked substance, in my opinion (I am rarely amused with portaits).
A wall of realistic portaits.
After those paintings, however, the arrangement became a mix of different styles, ranging from cubism to abstract to forms I can’t even name. One of the paintings that captured my eye was Juvenal Sanso’s “Red Sunset”, which appeared to be of flimsy buildings made of wooden rods/poles. While I was very impressed with the painter’s attention to detail, the painting as a whole seemed to evoke a morose atmosphere. It actually seemed as though something bad had happened in the painting. What I like about it is that it has the ability to evoke emotion right away, without the viewer having to think about it.
There were several cubist and abstract paintings; I have to say, I’m not a fan. I’ve never really understood what message or emotion the art is trying to convey. To me, they look more like technical drawing than anything else. One of them, however, interested me, because it seemed to show the skeleton of a carnival or amusement park. There were also paintings that strangely looked like cave art to me (although I knew it wasn’t), such as “The Joyous Kingdom” by David Medalla and “Table with Fish” by Ang Kiukok. I honestly found them rather out of place.
One of my favourite paintings in the art gallery was “Clouds of Conscience” by Alfonso Ossorio, a piece that was almost appeared to have the style of Jackson Pollock. What I loved about this artwork was the use of colors. The artist used bright colors in the beginning, but then added a large splash of black, which created a wonderful contrast. The clash of the dark and bright elements evokes a sort of dark emotion, which, from deducing it from the title, could be guilt, while the bright colors represent our minds and thoughts.
The next paintings after that were again cubist and abstract in nature. One of the ones that interested me was Hernando Ocampo’s “56-E (Joseph’s Coat)”. Immediately after reading the title, I connected it with the musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”. Primarily, though, without looking at the title, I thought it was a tessellation!
There was also an interesting installation piece by Marciano Galang, entitled “Cavite”. I honestly did not know how it connected to the province, so it was certainly mind-boggling. Initially, I thought it was a piece about pollution or childhood or something to that extent.
In the middle of all this was a metal assemblage by Idelfonso Marcelo called “Construction”. Although the work was impressive, I can’t say it left much to the imagination.
Moving along in the exhibit, I saw there were also art pieces with religious subjects. Throughout the years, there have been more than enough beautiful artworks that have been religious in nature. It was no difference in this art gallery.
The last two parts of the exhibit was probably the most amusing, in my opinion. Some paintings seemed to have been simplified, while others seemed to look like it was done by a child. One of the more interesting ones would have to be David Medella’s “My Sister at the Sewing Machine”. I’m uncertain of the reason why he meant the painting to look like it was done by a child, but I found the expression on his sister’s face to be rather funny. I doubt she was pleased when she saw the painting.
The last portion of the exhibit appeared to be a collection of some of the best works of the students of the university itself. I have to say, I was quite impressed, not only with their talent in painting, but also with the way they presented their work.
The trip to the Ateneo Art Gallery was no doubt a pleasant experience, but apart from that, it was also an eye-opener towards Filipino artists and their work. I actually wouldn’t mind going there again to see what’s on exhibit next!
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