Alabang-based art space Village Art Gallery mounted over the weekend a solo exhibition featuring Lee Salvador, wherein the street artist’s murals are rendered not on walls but on canvas, for a show staged online and not outside.
Salvador broke into the street art scene with his textured creations that went beyond public expression. He challenged viewers to surrender to introspection, embedding his saccharine pieces with bitter reality checks and, ultimately, a message of hope.
In a video posted on the social-media accounts of the artist and the gallery, Salvador displays his art making process when working on smaller, more pliant surfaces. He makes use of found materials that he cuts and dips and nails and sprays, creating a collage of abstract backgrounds to replicate the rough walls he used to paint on.
“I’ve been wanting to go back on the streets to paint for a while now,” he said, alluding to how the pandemic limited him to work with what he can. “But in whatever I do, the message of hope is still there. It’s always been there.”
Despite crossing into other mediums, the street artist carries with him the same aesthetic as rugged as his themes. The same goes with his paintings for his latest exhibition, titled Voices in My Head.
“The show is about thoughts on how to survive this situation, fighting for someone you want to protect, and losing self-trust,” he said.
A piece that lies at the intersection of the thematic Venn Diagram is Maybe Tomorrow But Not Today. In it, Salvador portrays his recurring teal-colored character with its head parted open, and in the space stands a girl knitting a noose.
“The girl shows how tricky our mind is, that sometimes there’s a voice in our head telling us that we’re not enough, that we’re not worthy of anything, but we need to hold on to what we have to live,” the artist said.
The central character in the piece shows signs of fightback. It holds a pair of scissors aimed at the dangling rope on one hand. On the other, it is clutching onto a caterpillar.
Salvador explained that the caterpillar represents our struggles—our directionless crawling—but with it is the promise of metamorphosis, that “someday we might be able to fly and see a brighter day.”
The artist revealed that even his teal character is a symbol of hope in itself. He said its color reflects that of the ocean, where he draws strength from to ride along the waves of life.
According to Sam Galvez-Lorenzo, who owns Village
Art Gallery along with her husband Anton, Salvador has a unique approach in using recycled materials for his collage paintings.
Village Art Gallery stands as the pioneer art space at Alabang Town Center. It was established 39 years ago, when Sam’s mother, Agnez Galvez, founded the gallery with the mission to make life richer and more meaningful through art.
Galvez originally established Village Art Gallery at BF Homes to cater to the need for art in the country’s largest residential community. When consumer trends began to shift toward commercial spaces, she then decided to relocate the gallery to its present location at Alabang Town Center.
Through the years, Village Art Gallery has assisted clients to scout for valuable pieces from masters to emerging artists. Under Sam Galvez-Lorenzo, the gallery has shifted its focus to contemporary art, while continuing the gallery’s avowed purpose of “developing artists who may be full of talent but lack exposure and motivation.”
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