Photos courtesy of Robert Besana
The early months of the pandemic taught us to adapt and survive, or deal with our mortality staring right in our unmasked faces. Confined in homes considered to be safe spaces, there are those who dug deep into their beings as they sought refuge from the uncertainties brought by limited movements and options. With sensitivities that resonate among artists, Robert Besana also took that route and searched for answers to a question that beleaguered his soul.
Besana is a visual artist, musician, and educator. With nine solo exhibitions under his belt, he has also mounted group exhibitions in art galleries such as Galerie Anna, Blanc Compound, Blanc Peninsula, and Nineveh Art Space. Moreover, he has also exhibited his artworks to a wider audience by way of art events such as Art Fair Philippines and Manila Art Fair. In 2009, he completed his masters degree in Fine Arts and Design at the Philippine Women’s University in Manila. Currently, he’s the executive director of the School of Multimedia Arts at the Asia Pacific College in Makati, where he also practices teaching.
For his tenth solo art exhibit, Besana wielded bare artistic essentials and poured out his inner being as he stripped down to his spirituality and sentimental self on a pilgrimage back to the grace of the heavens.
In his own words, Besana shares his inner thoughts on his latest collection titled “What Lives in our Temple.”
How did you come up with the concept for your latest exhibition?
Robert Besana: The concept of the show is a product of my reflections during the first wave of the lockdown. I cannot help but feel anxious during that period, for my family and what lies ahead. I asked myself a lot of questions, and one question lingers, “what lives in our temple?”
Tell us about the artistic elements that enabled you to depict your state of mind/emotions.
RB: I decided to strip down my visual elements to what is only essential. The figuration is still there, but the visual components are very limited. Perhaps our physical isolation also did find its way to the canvas. The recurring element is the passageway which I borrowed from Kalye Kolektib, a group of artists residing in the south which I am also a part of. It is for me the pathway to the temple.
It seems that this exhibit is very personal to you. What are your reflections behind these pieces?
RB: The center piece is titled “Surrender,” the biggest piece in the show, synthesizes everything. It is an imagery that showed our psyche as a Filipino specially when faced with adversity. It is our faith that makes us calm and hopeful. For the things we cannot control, we leave it up to God.
As an artist, why did you feel the need to be introspective during the pandemic that eventually led you to produce this collection?
RB: Artists respond to what is happening around them. It was instinctive when I created the artworks for this exhibit. I felt the immediacy to reflect on my works, my current condition as a person, and my confrontations with my soul.
Fiat Voluntas 1 Fiat Voluntas 2 Fiat Voluntas 3 Towards Blinding Light 1 Towards Blinding Light 2 Towards Blinding Light 3
To answer your question, what lives in your temple?
RB: The journey in this exhibit involved an exercise of learning and unlearning both in life and art. I desire to fill my temple only with good things. I’ll leave this simple quote from St. Thomas More: “Occupy your minds with good thoughts, or the enemy will fill them with bad ones.”
What Lives in our Temple had its exhibition run from January 16 to February 14 at the Altro Mondo Creative Space located at 1159 Chino Roces Avenue in Brgy. San Antonio, Makati City.