AS art establishments in Metro Manila remain closed after more two months since a government-imposed, turgidly termed lockdown, a number of affected galleries and museums have repositioned their featured artworks from the walls of their exhibition spaces to the pages of their digital channels.
One such institution is Art Cube Gallery. Established in 2012, the Makati-based gallery recently rolled out a strong lineup of four one-man shows on artsteps, an online platform where organizations can create virtual art galleries in lifelike 3D spaces that the art viewing public could tour in the comfort and safety of their homes.
“We had to make sure [that artists] were comfortable with the idea of a virtual exhibit, since it’s a paradigm shift from the usual concept of art exhibits, with an exhibition opening and personal experience in front of the artworks,” said Nicole Pagalilauan, gallery assistant of Art Cube. “Thankfully, the artists gave a very positive feedback, and they liked the idea. They trusted us with the whole process.”
Showcased in the quartet of Art Cube’s solo exhibitions are Marvin Quizon, Renz Baluyot, Jaime Pacena II and Demi Padua. Devoid of a unifying theme to let the artists have free reign over their visual narration, the slate of shows can be viewed by typing on the artsteps search bar the keyword “ArtCubeGalleryPh.”
After clicking on the lone hit, users will be redirected to the virtual exhibition space that is designed in great detail, perhaps not only to capture the quality of the featured pieces, but to replicate an in-person art viewing experience in 3D. Artworks and exhibition notes hang on the walls. Benches and even trash bins are placed around the space. Viewers can choose where to go and what to view, or opt for a virtual guided tour.
Pagalilauan said viewers have been equally receptive of the format, citing testimonies that say going through artsteps is like visiting Art Cube’s physical gallery.
“A lot of them take screenshot and videos of the exhibits and post their stories on Instagram,” she said. “Others add some GIFs to make it appear they’re having a drink or enjoying pizza in the art gallery.”
Here are Art Cube’s four ongoing solo exhibitions, arranged as they presented in the virtual guided tour. The shows are on view until June 6.
‘Interception’ by Marvin Quizon
THE young age of visual artist Marvin Quizon belies his old soul, wherein he is in his mid-20s only in terms of years lived and nothing more. Elsewhere, he seems to have been here for a while—overtaken by time, opulent in experience and occupied by thoughts that he continues to grapple with through many long years.
In Quizon’s third solo exhibition, titled Interception, the chosen rumination is an age-old debate: mind or heart? Should cognition rule all decisions, or does one have to go with the intangibles of feeling?
“Nabuo ko ’yung concept nung time na lagi akong naguguluhan sa conscious mind ko—sa kung ano ang iniisip, at sa kung ano ang gusto ng puso,” said Quizon, who has won several national visual art contests, including Vision Petron, Shell National Students Art Competition, and the PNOC Painting Competition.
The artist knows that any attempt to definitively settle the presented argument brings more affliction than answer. The peril on one side is overthinking. On the other is emotional breakdown. Therefore, Quizon serves the subject without a suggestive answer. Rather, he challenges the viewer to come up with his or her own take by posing a question conveyed by symbolism across six masterful surrealist paintings.
Each one features a different subject, but all involves an octopus tentacle, from a replacement to a human head to clutching an alarm clock, rendered in the artist’s signature time-worn aesthetic.
Quizon said octopuses are known to use their tentacles for self-defense against all forms of adversities. Thus, in any attempt to choose between the mind and the heart, inevitably subjecting oneself to all the tortures that come along with it, the artist asks: Can you protect yourself from your own self?
‘Noontide Hagonoy’ by Renz Baluyot
KNOWN for realist depictions of sceneries marked by eloquent mastery of light, Renz Baluyot has nine solo exhibitions under his belt. For show No. 10, titled Noontide Hagonoy, the artist returns home. Sort of.
“Doon kasi ’yung roots ng family pero ’di ako dun lumaki,” Baluyot said, adding that his works for this exhibition are simply “observatory and representational.”
Any trace of simplicity in Noontide Hagonoy, however, ends with the artist’s description of his works, as the pieces are anything but plain. Baluyot remains as unrelenting as he is accurate in dealing with details, as seen on each jagged edge of a bamboo scaffolding and the shadows it casts in Pangkabuhayan; or the withered paint of a soda brand image on an American colonial-era water tank in Water District Tower.
‘Given Time’ by Jaime Pacena II
IT only follows for a multihyphenate such as Jaime Pacena II to venture into new things, to try different concepts.
A visual artist, video director, educator and curator, Pacena presents Given Time not just a one-man art show but as “online open studio and exhibition.”
The concept, he said, “explores the idea of an ‘Artist-in-Residence’ with works reflecting on isolation during this pandemic.”
The artist has intended the show to be a tribute to creation and nurturing of one’s process as an artist. Here, he presents recent works, along with his mental, emotional and physical space during this community quarantine period. Moreover, despite being depicted in bright and lively hues, the works display one’s stages of grief amid the current pandemic.
Pacena is also engaged in a “takeover” of the Art Cube Gallery Instagram account for over a week that ends today. The activity is an attempt to stretch the dialogue and manipulate the audience into a “slower and well-phased consumption of the exhibition” during the run of the project.
“It is not just a feature, but an actual takeover that includes the sudden shift of curation sa content and posting on the feed of Art Cube,” he said.
‘Front Line’ by Demi Padua
“BY essence we are the real frontliners and our medical practitioners are the last line of defense.”
So reads one of the texts written on the virtual walls that showcase Demi Padua’s works for his solo show, titled Front Line. The concept is not Padua’s original idea for the show, but he decided to exercise his responsibility as an artist to be a “recorder of time.”
The result is a range of geometric and multilayered surrealist paintings, featuring portraits of people wearing masks.
“Noong pumasok ang Covid, naisip ko mas maganda makagawa ako ng mga pyesa na magiging part nitong event na ito na hindi pangkaraniwan,” he said. “Pwede
ko itong gawing visual diary ko during quarantine. Gusto maging part ng history ang mga works ko kasabay nitong Covid.”
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