FEB 14-16 2020
SMX AURA
ART DIRECTOR
Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz
EXHIBITION TEAM Lara Espadero Johanna Labitoria Vicente Amancio, Jr. Jose Joeffrey Baba Gabriel Abalos
Thess Ponce Bing Francisco Roy Abrenica Edgar Bautista
CATALOGUE DESIGN
Marikit Lagunzad
CURATED BY
Angel Velasco Shaw
Copyright 2019 Galleria Duemila, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system transmitted in any form or by any means without the written consent of the abovementioned copyright holders, with the exception of reasonably brief excerpts and quotations used in articles, critical essays or research.
Leonard Aguinaldo Moreen Austria Rocky Cajigan Cian Dayrit RM de Leon Junjun Montelibano Mervy Pueblo Jose Tence Ruiz Josephine Turalba Trek Valdizno
CARPE DIEM: BEYOND SEIZING THE DAY The spirit of carpe diem, “seize the day” has been hijacked from under our noses. And if we want to live life to the full, we have to claim it back. —Roman Krznaric (Public philosopher)
Dead Poets Society, a celebrated Hollywood film, starring the late Robin Williams as an unorthodox English teacher, popularized the Latin phrase carpe diem to mean “seize the day”. According to Latin scholars, it is a horticultural metaphor that means to “gather” or “harvest”. Before the act of harvesting, one must pause and be in the present moment of the action itself and then, with deliberation, move on to do whatever one intends to do with its outcome. In Krznaric’s book, Carpe Diem Regained: The Vanishing Art of Seizing the Day, he analyzes how the culture industries have hijacked the ways in which people take pleasure in daily life due to our ubiquitous consumption of material goods, gadgets, and social media. Within the context of artistic practice, carpe diem can be interpreted as artists taking back what has been considered to be taken away from them before they have been able to realize their artwork to their fullest intention—without outside pressure to please an audience, a potential collector, gallerist or curator. The reality of an artist today is much more complex and often times, contradictory to what the naked eye can see and/or what an artist may feel like they can publicly disclose without some real or imagined repercussions. The exponential growth of the number of art galleries and artists in the Philippines has created an inescapable kind of anxiety that suggests each respective player must take advantage of the situation in which they find themselves in. Trying to move beyond conformity and prescribed systemic art world norms is indeed challenging. Nonetheless, the artists
invited to participate in Carpe Diem: Beyond Seizing the Day strived to do just that. The exhibition is an assemblage of 10 diverse artists ranging in ages from 31 to 64 years old. They are multi-talented emerging, mid-career, and established practitioners based in Manila, Baguio, and Bacolod who paint, sculpt, perform and create multimedia art installations. Within their own respective practices, some of the artists featured here, stay within their aesthetic continuums while others push the boundaries of audience expectations, aesthetics and artistic concerns. In abstract artist Trek Valdizno’s own eloquent words in describing his interpretation of carpe diem, he says, “carpe diem is associated with the concept of ‘flow’ which is a state of mind in which a person is fully immersed in the activity that they are engaging in.” Rhapsody in Blue 1 and 2 capture his artistic sentiments in expressionistic strokes in dialogue with each other. RM de Leon’s versatility in using visual language to express his diverse range of aesthetic sensibilities in portraiture is evident in his homage to and appropriation of 16th century German portrait artist Hans Holbein. Hans Holbein Drawings 1 and 2 graphite works problematizes what it means to capture essences of a portrait subject in minimalistic ways that speak to a being, in a way that the faces of the sitter cannot. The opportunity for Baguio-based artists Rocky Cajigan and Leonard Aguinaldo, and Bacolod-based artist Moreen Austria, to create through the notion of going “beyond seizing the day”, opened up artistic pathways that led to more experientially nuanced narratives than in their earlier works. Indigenous contemporary artist, Rocky Cajijan, known primarily for his installation and sculptures that address sexuality, religion, anthropology and indigeneity through a post-colonial lens, trains his artistic focus on mixed media paintings in which he merges personal snapshot memories of unspecified experiences with the collective landscape memory. Chata, Bontoc Ili, Mountain Province, 2616 Philippines; Dalican, Bontoc, Mountain Province 2616
Philippines and Tinjure, Tehrathum, Province No. 1 (Koshi), 57103 Nepal depict layers of meaning alluding to agriculture, mining, and archeology juxtaposed in pentagonal panels painstakingly constructed to critique anthropocentrism, the divine belief that human beings are all important at the expense of destroying nature. Leonard Aguinaldo’s new series of paintings, I Am A.I. Artificial Igorot and Robots Don’t Cry, carved on fiber board is a tongue-in-cheek critique of the digital age and the effects of technological advancements like artificial intelligence and gadgetry on our ability to stay human. The central figures in these works are patterned on the Cordillera bulol, a motif symbol seen in many of his previous works. Leonard’s use of bright shades of red, blue, pink, yellow, and orange temper his apocalyptic warnings that we must heed the call to humanize technology or we will be detached from all that remains human. Moreen Austria’s heart-moving installation, Pieces of the Self, inspired by the exhibition theme, courageously delves into her struggles with bipolar disorder. A found steel signage cut into long strips is reconstructed into a six foot skeletal shape forming a woman’s dress. Inside the bottom of the dress are dangling shards of glass and attached to the back of the torso are a pair of steel rod wings. Beside this fragile yet sturdy sculpture, is a steel box enclosed with prison bars and naked electrical wires flowing out like raw energy. One’s ability to seize the day and the day after that, again and again, can be seen in Moreen’s installation where creating through vulnerability is a sign of cathartic strength.
Social issue-oriented works of art, particularly those pertaining to labor and the omnipotent power of the state, are not new themes for artists to tackle. Some are reflective of the times in which its creators live, while others are a testimony to the history of human conditions being very much alive. Veteran multidisciplinary artist, Jose Tence Ruiz (Bogie) displays his artistry in his installation, Diploma addressing the plight of Filipino overseas. The piece is comprised of 14 digitally made and montaged “diplomas” in the shape of a Philippine peso bill depicting various kinds of machines, employers’ faces, and anatomical parts, potentially effected by hard labor and years of working abroad; a life-size vestida (traditional upper class dress); and a velvet-ribbon chest medal. Paraisado: Dugo’t Alak is an imposing eight foot labor of love sculpture reminiscent of the impact of Spanish colonialism on the Philippines. A menacing cathedral dominates this wooden city on cart wheels—poignantly addressing an empire built on blood-labor.
Beatus Servire, Cian Dayrit’s latest installation, created in collaboration with Altermidya, Neen Sapalo, and Veronica Lazo, literally entices curious viewers to walk down a felt paper red carpet lined with ceremonial robe stanchions towards a lightbox table containing 30 documentary photographs of police and military brutality at workers’ strikes, political rallies and indigenous peoples’ protests. Despite the cinematic quality of these images, the featured dramatic encounters with authority are witness to forgotten civil unrest events that occurred from the 1970s to 2016.
Bacolod based artist, JunJun Montelibano’s A Day in Life, theatrical dioramic bus full of 80 ants with macabre human and cyclops faces encapsulates the daily grind of Filipinos commuting to and from work. The half-human, half-bird bus driver and figures in Kape Porma and Porma, is a repeating character in different guises in many of JunJun’s works since 2018. This creature is emblematic of the hardworking sakadas of Negros Occidental. The three artworks featured in Carpe Diem: Beyond Seizing the Day address the mundane struggles of the everyday Filipino and the feeling of not being able to move beyond the chaos to survive towards fulfilling other aspirations in life. The act of seizing the day is achieved in small, yet significant ways—through a change of attire for special occasions.
The 20th century “red scare” of communist China has evolved into the 21st century fear of China’s global economic domination. In Josephine Turalba’s cleverly reimagined mahjong set, Todas, each of the four suits represents a particular aspect of the complex Philippines-China relationship. The bamboo stick suit is replaced by variations of bullets; the balls suit by iconographic symbols of China’s Belt and Road Initiatives; the characters suit by stylized terra cotta soldiers and Filipino folk scenes from the 1800s; and the flowers by military operations and references to the Spratly Islands. This functional artwork will surely evoke numerous thoughtprovoking discussions for mahjong lovers. Mervy Pueblo’s Balot ng Misteryo silk shroud comprised of recycled sachets and intricately painted Southeast Asian mythical creatures and religious symbols, embodies details of Filipino history chronicling Spanish and American colonial times, WWII Japanese occupation, the Marcos Era, Yellow Power, and the current state of affairs. Recognizable symbols of the history of technology and social media, entangled with the flag of China and President Duterte’s iconic fist line the bottom of this mesmerizing allegorical shroud which was inspired by the Funeral Banner of Lady Dai (Xin Xhui).
The artworks in the Carpe Diem: Beyond Seizing the Day exhibition summon its visitors to think about what may have been hijacked in their daily lives in terms of their quality of life. Whereas, for the artists, their energy focused on their ideas and quality of content, before letting their creations go out into the world for audiences to see. Angel Velasco Shaw 2020
Angel Velasco Shaw is a media artist, educator, curator, and cultural organizer living in Manila and New York City. Her experimental documentaries—Inherited Memories, When
Absence Becomes Presence, Motherload, The Momentary Enemy, Umbilical Cord, Asian Boys, and Nailed have screened internationally in festivals, museums, and schools. They are in several European museum archive collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Curatorial visual art and film exhibitions, and cross-cultural exchange projects include “Not Visual Noise”, “The Inverted Telescope”, “Markets of Resistance”, “Women as (Mythical) Hero”, “Vestiges of War”, and co-curated “Empire and Memory: Repercussions and Evocations of the 1899 Philippine-American War”. Publications include the anthology Vestiges of War:
The Philippine-American War and the Aftermath of An Imperial Dream: 1899-1999, co-edited with Luis H. Francia (New York University Press, 2002 and Markets of Resistance anthology (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2020). She received a Filipina Women’s Network 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the U.S. “Innovators & Thought Leaders” award, 2011.
TREK VALDIZNO
Rhapsody in Blue 1 Trek Valdizno 2020 acrylic on canvas 121.92 x 121.92 cm / 48.04 x 48.04 in
Rhapsody in Blue 2 Trek Valdizno 2020 acrylic on canvas 121.92 x 121.92 cm / 48.04 x 48.04 in
RM DE LEON
(left to right) Hans Holbien Drawings 1 Hans Holbien Drawings 2 RM de Leon 2019 graphite on drawing paper 121.92 cm x 91.44 cm / 48.04 x 36.03 in
Hans Holbien Drawings 3 RM de Leon 2019 graphite on drawing paper 121.92 cm x 91.44 cm / 48.04 x 36.03 in
LEONARD AGUINALDO
I Am A.I. Artificial Igorot Leonard Aguinaldo 2019 carved fiber board, acrylic, oil, printers ink, clear acrylic spray 112.50 x 84.20 cm / 44.33 x 33.17 in
Robots Don’t Cry Leonard Aguinaldo 2020 carved fiber board, acrylic, oil, printers ink, clear acrylic spray 172.7 x 114.4 cm / 68.04 x 45.07 in
MOREEN AUSTRIA
Pieces of the Self Moreen Austria 2020 metal, stainless steel, image transfer on found metal signage, mirror, copper wires, glass dress 196.00 x 117.00 x 70.00 cm / 77.17 x 46.06 x 27.56 in cage 153.50 x 55.50 x 29.50 cm / 60.43 x 21.85 x 11.61 in
Elusive Courage of A Fool
Introspection Inspection
Fleeting Moments of Clarity
Invincible Self Loathe
The Reconditioning of Repressions
Of Coming to Terms
Moreen Austria 2020 laser digital print on 280gsm muster paper (of charcoal, ink drawings, diary entries) 25.40 x 30.48 cm / 10.00 x 12.00 in
ROCKY CAJIGAN
Chata, Bontoc lli, Mountain Province, 2616 Philippines Rocky Cajigan 2020 acrylic on canvas, copper tubes, soil, gauze, wood, glass, thread 117.00 x 83.00 cm / 32.68 x 46.06 in
Dalican, Bontoc, Mountain Province, 2616 Philippines Rocky Cajigan 2020 acrylic on canvas, crocodile skin, soil, gauze, wood, glass 117.00 x 83.00 cm / 32.68 x 46.06 in
Tinjure, Tehrathum, Province No. 1 (Koshi), 57103 Nepal Rocky Cajigan 2020 acrylic on canvas, human hair, sewing pins, soil, gauze, wood, glass, thread 117.00 x 83.00 cm / 32.68 x 46.06 in
CIAN DAYRIT
Beatus Servire Cian Dayrit 2020 light box on wooden table 53.00 x 78.00 x 15.00 cm / 20.87 x 30.71 x 5.91 in
JOSE TENCE RUIZ
Paraisado: Dugo’t Alak Jose Tence Ruiz 2014 Wood, metal, rubber, polyurethane varnish, oil and enamel 274.32 x 178.00 x 88.70 cm / 108.08 x 70.13 x 34.95 in
Diploma installation - Vestida 1 (detail) Jose Tence Ruiz 1996 life size resin, fabric, paper with acrylic and mixed media 169.50 x 114.00 x 66.50 cm / 66.72 x 44.88 x 26.18 in
Diploma installation - (detail) Diplomas Jose Tence Ruiz 1996 10 pieces, digital print in carbon with polyester laminate material 11.00 x 20.50 x 1.00 cm / 4.33 x 8.07 x .039 in
Diploma installation - (detail) Diplomas Jose Tence Ruiz 1996 14 pieces with wooden frame, digital print in carbon with polyester laminate material 12.50 x 22.50 x 2.30 cm / 4.92 x 8.86 x .91 in
JUNJUN MONTELIBANO
Porma Emilio "JunJun" Montelibano 2020 mixed media and wood sculpture, treated palochina wood, treated mahogany wood, acrylic, coffee beans, aluminum plate 61.50 x 25.50 x 34.50 cm / 24.21 x 10 x 13.58 in
Kape Porma Emilio "JunJun" Montelibano 2020 mixed media and wood sculpture, treated palochina wood, treated mahogany wood, acrylic, coffee beans, aluminum plate 61.50 x 25.50 x 34.50 cm / 24.21 x 10 x 13.58 in
A Day in Life Emilio "JunJun" Montelibano 2020 mixed media, treated palochina wood, polymer clay, acrylic, bamboo sticks, treated mahogany wood, aluminum plate 185.80 x 35.00 x 28.00 cm / 73.09 x 13.79 x 11.03 in
JOSEPHINE TURALBA
Todas (edition of 5) Josephine Turalba 2020 mahjong set of 146 digital UV print on ivory color hard plastic tiles (individual tile) 2.00 x 2.80 x 3.50 x 0.79 x 1.10 x 1.38 in
No Man’s Land - Goddess Josephine Turalba 2011 1488 pcs. of empty shotgun shells, copper 138.5 x 60.5 cm / 54.57 x 23.84 in
MERVY PUEBLO
Treachery of Times Mervy Pueblo 2018 mixed media, discarded sachets, piĂąa and silk barong 60.96 x 60.96 cm / 24.00 x 24.00 in
Balot ng Misteryo Mervy Pueblo 2020 mixed media, discarded sachets and silk cocoon barong 196.00 x 179.00 cm / 77.22 x 70.53 in
(detail) Balot ng Misteryo
Galleria Duemila was established in 1975 by Italian born Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz. Duemila means “twentieth century”, and it was this vision that inspired Duemila’s advocacy in promoting and preserving Philippine contemporary art. To date, it is the longest running commercial art gallery in the Philippines maintaining a strong international profile. With the vision to expose its artists locally and within the ASEAN region, Duemila complements its exhibits with performances, readings and musical events in its custom-built gallery in Pasay City, Manila. Galleria Duemila takes pride in being the only local gallery to publish and mount retrospectives of artists as part of its advocacy in pursuing art historical research and scholarship. With the collaboration of institutions, Duemila has mounted the retrospectives of Roberto M.A. Robles (Ateneo Art Gallery, 2011), Duddley Diaz (Vargas Museum, 2009), Julie Lluch Dalena (Cultural Center of the Philippines, 2008). It has also published a book on Diosdado Magno Lorenzo (National Library of the Philippines, 2009) and produced a major Pacita Abad exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, 2004. The gallery maintains close ties with museums throughout Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States. Its futurist vision keeps it at the cutting-edge of Philippine art, making and archiving history as it happens. services: conservation and restoration of paintings, consultancy services, commissions and installation
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