Art Lounge Manila presents “Monumental Abstracts,” an ongoing exhibit of literally huge and eye-catching works of art by several artists, who derive their respective inspirations from such sources as textiles, sunsets and classical music.
Does size really matter? Is bigger necessarily better? Again, it depends on the eye of the beholder.
With walls that could accommodate oversized works, Art Lounge Manila presents “Monumental Abstracts” by Anna de Leon, Francis Nacion Jr., Louie Ignacio, Jonathan Dangue, Ricky Francisco, Melissa Yeung Yap and 0270501.
Using canvases ranging from 10 to 16 ft., the artists involved in the project were motivated by the thrill of creating artworks that are both “memorable and impactful,” according event organizers. Some attribute their output to an “explosion” of pent-up “energies” after being cooped up in their respective homes and studios for so long.
De Leon, who garnered an honorable mention in the GSIS 2010 competition for abstraction, but has since focused on figuration, is known for her pastel paintings of flowers and birds. This exhibition, she says, is a welcome return for her in finding expression without narrative elements that she often relies on in her figurative works.
Focusing on composition, her work is as neat, tidy and balanced as the interior design projects she is also known for. As such, many of her paintings and sculptures have earned a place of honor in a number of private and institutional collections.
Creating his oversized work while listening to Handel’s Messiah is Ignacio. A film and TV director, he found emotional release through the frenetic splashes and drips he did to create masterpieces. Using not only his whole arm, but also his entire body in the process, the gestural strokes Ignacio used were simultaneously liberal and liberating, he shares. Ignacio has been painting for the past decade and has had numerous successful solo exhibitions.
Dangue, on the other hand, balances “planned order and intuitive discovery” in explaining the process behind his art. His familiarity with his material enables him to create tonalities, patterns and forms using a combination of watery and thick acrylic in a variety of techniques. A licensed architect and sculptor, he is so far the only back-to-back grand prize winner of both categories in the Metrobank Art and Design Competition.
Also integrating intuition into his sunset-inspired work is Francisco, who has taken to painting recently after nearly three decades of museum work and curatorial work.
His fascination for light has allowed him to explore both bright colors and light-reacting metallic and iridescent paints. Using the horizontality of the canvas, he presents an abstraction of a sunset, a favorite subject of his in his many photos, which he took during the lockdown.
For him, sunsets are glorious and awe-inspiring, as they allow for the light of the sun to be seen in various colors. It’s so unlike when the sun is high in the celestial sphere.
For his mural-sized work, Nacion takes a short break from his rich, highly detailed figurative work to revisit a textile-inspired series he focused on briefly almost a decade ago, as a tribute to his mother who loved to sew.
Using textile-inspired patterns as the compositional device for his abstraction, Nacion introduces a color field and diaphanous layers to his richly detailed sgraffito oeuvre. His composition is focused on sewing-inspired elements that remind viewers of textiles, patches, stitches and thread that are overlaid and assembled into a central image that is compositionally balanced and yet full of movement.
Yeung Yap and the artist who prefers to refer to himself as 0270501, or Zar for short, also drew liberal inspirations from textiles.
Yeung Yap integrates t’nalak, a woven textile made from Philippine abaca by the T’boli people of Mindanao, into her mural-sized work. The flowing and flowery organic forms are complemented by flat and folded t’nalak, creating a highly textured, nearly bas-relief effect on her paintings.
By choosing to use a great deal of t’nalak, Yeung Yap is also able to create a demand for it, which, for her, is truly beautiful, but is in danger of being lost because of lack of demand.
Also following this train of thought, Zar, for his part, integrates abaca fabric sourced from Bicol. Finding ways to create a market for abaca while simultaneously increasing its value are among the motivations behind his artworks, he says.
Aesthetically, Zar’s pieces reference the Japanese gutai, as they remind the viewer of the relationship between material, spirit and freedom, as well as contemporary aesthetics. By sticking to earth tones for his palette, Zar’s works also remind us of the relationship of the art scene to the still largely agricultural makeup of the Philippine countryside.
“Monumental Abstracts,”by Anna de Leon, Francis Nacion Jr., Louie Ignacio, Jonathan Dangue, Ricky Francisco, Melissa Yeung Yap and 0270501, is presented by Art Lounge Manila. It will run until tomorrow, April 17, at the Podium Mall, Ortigas Center.
The exhibition will continue to be on view at Art Lounge Manila at Molito Lifestyle Center, Alabang until April 30.
For inquiries, call at 09778398971 or 09989937963, or email info@artloungemanila.com.
