CURATED BY
Sandra Palomar
ART DIRECTOR
Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz
EXHIBITION TEAM
Johanna Labitoria Vicente Amancio, Jr. Jose Joeffrey Baba Gabriel Abalos
Thess Ponce Bing Francisco Roy Abrenica Edgar Bautista
CATALOGUE DESIGN
Marikit Lagunzad
EXHIBITION NOTES
Johanna Labitoria
Copyright © 2019 Trek Valdizno and 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 abovementioned copyright holders, with the exception of reasonably brief excerpts and quotations used in articles, critical essays or research.
The Flight 2019 acrylic on canvas 91.00 x 183.50 cm / 35.85 x 72.30 in
Temporal Dislocation Johanna Labitoria The process is as easy as a flight of a bird. The bird starts with a thrust and lifts itself. The process of Trek takes flight from a neutral state of calmness and slow rhythm enough to ride in the phantasmagoria of anima, or spirit. The anima allows him a proneness to flow. Like the stream, the characters to Trek’s paintings gushes out. He speaks of it as in an altered state, allowing him to traverse into a narrative of the real and unrealistic world where his imagination is the most active, recalling into mind ‘childhood fantasies, snippets of daily life, space travel, getting lost in the wilderness and landscapes’. The bird flaps its wings and soars. Like the proverbial wind beneath the wings, the artist is deeply inspired by the mystic William Blake in which his yearning for the unknown that is outside the realm of the human mind validates itself through an occurrence of believers all throughout the fields of literature, music and history. The spiritual experience in the process of painting of Trek was heavily influenced by the allegorical artist Caspar David Friedrich having gained a wide popularity in a landscape composition called the Tetschen Altar, containing within itself a myriad of symbolisms in faith and hope. The existence of this work is a significant magnifier to the process of Trek Valdizno as if he is putting his faith onto the canvas, speaking of the act of painting as his holiest state. The flight maintains its course. He starts with the background colors, mixes paint like in the chore of cooking, using a spatula with both hands to scoop paint from the canvas itself, mixes, divides, then spreads achieving a cut-out effect due to an abundance of techniques layered unto each other including marbling, conjoining, colliding, coiling, coagulating, scraping and skidding. An involuntary sleight of hand allows him to paint enchantment on canvas. The paintings declaring themselves as manifestations of the magnanimity of nature which the artist wholly surrenders to. His choice of background are earth-tones, subdued colors that beset the playground on which he paints his forms.
The artist’s visual vocabulary is a result of an influx of information, averting materialism and returning back to natural forms, looking into the landscapes as his most default surrounding. Heavyset abstract images of birds pervade his oeuvre. The works Top Knot, The Quil, Altitude and Pinion are composed of thin, trickling, brush strokes that mimic the beak of the birds swooping unto the ocean, leaving a trail of circular waters in its wake. The upward motion of the brushstrokes in Starling present a height of regality. The minimal characteristic in nature is seen in the painting of Crest and Plumage. Both are made up of two strokes depicting a stem-like element seemingly budding in no time. The swaying of the branches of the strokes in Odille represent gentleness and formidability, the epitome of belief in nature in Trek’s paintings. In the right direction. Abstraction is non-objective. There are no exact images and there are no figures in sight. Trek’s paintings give exactly that but with each stroke, he manages to compose forms of the flora and fauna as he experiences the act of painting. The artist believes that there are ‘probably no precise meanings only precise experiences’. It is imperative that we call into mind Buddhism as the artist’s inspiration to make sense of his conclusion. There is a famous Buddhist saying that everyone appears as buddhas in the eyes of the Buddha and everyone appears as pigs in the eyes of a pig. It suggests that the world is experienced according to the state of one’s mind. Trek’s abstraction is a reflection of his personal awakening, of what he believes is his greatest form of meditation, of being one with the universe and grounding himself first in nature. Landing. The birds flutter in from one place to another. The images are fleeting moments of nature caught in time just as it is the same with artist’s process of painting where his ideas are just momentary, often altered or evolved into its final form. The anima disrupts the monotony of life. It soars, for a little while. It lands, in a new location.
Plumage 2019 acrylic on canvas 183.50 cm x 91.00 / 72.30 x 35.85 in
Crest 2019 acrylic on canvas 183.50 cm x 91.00 / 72.30 x 35.85 in
Pluma 2019 acrylic on canvas 91.00 x 183.50 cm / 35.85 x 72.30 in
Psychedelic Charm 2019 acrylic on canvas 122.00 x 122.00 cm / 48.07 x 48.07 in
Beautiful Tragedy 2019 acrylic on canvas 122.00 x 122.00 cm / 48.07 x 48.07 in
Dore 2019 acrylic on canvas 91.44 x 91.44 cm / 36.03 x 36.03 in
Prayer Stick 2019 acrylic on canvas 122.00 x 122.00 cm / 48.07 x 48.07 in
Swan 2019 acrylic on canvas 122.00 x 122.00 cm / 48.07 x 48.07 in
Rune 2019 acrylic on canvas 122.00 x 122.00 cm / 48.07 x 48.07 in
Beatific Vision 2019 acrylic on canvas 117.00 x 153.00 cm / 46.10 x 60.28 in
Flos Passion 2019 acrylic on canvas 122.00 x 153.00 cm / 46.10 x 60.28 in
LEFT TO RIGHT
Lark 2019 acrylic on canvas 91.44 x 91.44 cm / 36.03 x 36.03 in Hopeless Majestic 2019 acrylic on canvas 122.00 x 122.00 cm / 48.07 x 48.07 in Moon Child 2019 acrylic on canvas 122.00 x 122.00 cm / 48.07 x 48.07 in
LEFT TO RIGHT
Bobolink 2019 acrylic on canvas 91.44 x 91.44 cm / 36.03 x 36.03 in Odille 2019 acrylic on canvas 122.00 x 122.00 cm / 48.07 x 48.07 in Veery 2019 acrylic on canvas 91.44 x 91.44 cm / 36.03 x 36.03 in
CLOCKWISE Ava Merganzer Myzomela Robin 2019 acrylic on canvas 91.44 x 91.44 cm / 36.03 x 36.03 in
CLOCKWISE Starling Shama Rosefinch Kea 2019 acrylic on canvas 91.44 x 91.44 cm / 36.03 x 36.03 in
CLOCKWISE Phoebe Tinamou Ibis Rainbird Irena Euphoria 2019 acrylic on canvas 91.44 x 91.44 cm / 36.03 x 36.03 in
CLOCKWISE
Flos Potencia 2019 acrylic on canvas 122.00 x 153.00 cm / 46.10 x 60.28 in Blue Jay 2019 acrylic on canvas 91.44 x 91.44 cm / 36.03 x 36.03 in Utopia 2019 acrylic on canvas 122.00 x 122.00 cm / 48.07 x 48.07 in
CLOCKWISE
Alabastra 2019 acrylic on canvas 122.00 x 153.00 cm / 46.10 x 60.28 in Weaver 2019 acrylic on canvas 91.44 x 91.44 cm / 36.03 x 36.03 in Cross over 2019 acrylic on canvas 122.00 x 122.00 cm / 48.07 x 48.07 in
LEFT TO RIGHT Top Knot The Quil Altitude Pinion 2019 acrylic on canvas 76.50 x 46.00 cm / 30.14 x 18.12 in
TREK VALDIZNO BORN 1968 Bulacan, Philippines EDUCATION
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Major in Painting, College of Fine Arts, University of the Philippines RELATED WORK AND EXPERIENCE
1998-2000 1998 1997 1995
Art Instructor, International School of Manila, Makati City, Philippines Art Instructor, Third Space Arts & Laboratory, Quezon City, Philippines Art Instructor, Philippine Airlines (PAL) Sports Center, Pasay City, Philippines Art Instructor, Ayala Museum Foundation Inc. Makati City, Philippines Apprenticeship, Museum Apprenticeship Program Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines Seminar, National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA), NCCA Conference Hall, Intramuros, Manila, Philippines Seminar, Preventive Conservation of Museum Artifacts, Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines
INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS
2018 The Drawing Room, Makati City, Philippines 2016 Space Dust, Galleria Duemila, Inc., Pasay City, Philippines 2015 Give me Space and Don’t tell me what to do, Slot Gallery, Australia 2014 Plethora, Galleria Duemila, Inc., Pasay City, Philippines Carpe Diem, The Drawing Room, Makati City 2012 Mutual Gravitation, The Drawing Room, Makati City 2011 Fortune Cookie, The Drawing Room, Makati 2008 Urgent Paintings from San Rafael, Bulacan, Artist Corpus Gallery, Mandaluyong City, Philippines 2007 Phantasmagoria, Mag:net CafÊ, High Street, The Fort, Taguig City, Philippines 2006 Reductio Ad Absurdum, mag:net Gallery ABS-CBN, Quezon City, Philippines 2005 Non-geographic specific familiarity, Alliance Francaise de Manille, Makati City, Philippines Blind Paintings, West Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines Surface Tensions, Finale Art File Gallery, Mandaluyong City, Philippines 2000 Recent Sculptures, Drawing Room, Makati City, Philippines Recent Sculptures, Butterfly Blue Bar, Quezon City, Philippines Luna, Ayala Museum, Makati City, Philippines 1999 Drawings and Sculptures, Matina Bar, Manila, Philippines 1998 Bodies of Water, Bulwagang Fernando Amorsolo, CCP Divination, Ayala Museum, Makati City, Philippines Freedom, World Trade Center, Manila, Philippines 1997 Earthly Paragon, Gallery 139, Alabang, Muntinlupa City, Philippines Heaven and Earth, Old Mansion, Cagayan, Philippines Climate, Weather, Seasons, Rainbows, Finale Art File Mandaluyong City, Philippines Revolution, Vargas Museum, U.P Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 1996 Transfiguration, Lopez Museum, Pasig City, Philippines 1995 Polarity of the Oblivions, West Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines Conversion, Alliance Francaise de Manille, Makati City, Philippines 1993 Clouds Part I, Pasillo Carlos V. Francisco, CCP, Philippines Clouds Part II, Pasillo Carlos V. Francisco, CCP, Philippines Double Entendre, De La Salle University Gallery, Philippines 1991 Bubblegum State, West Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018 An Italian in Manila, Galleria Duemila, Pasay 2016 They speak to you by association, Galleria Duemila, Pasay 2015 Art Fair Philippines 2015, The Link, Parkway Drive, Ayala, Makati City 2013 Placebo Painting, Galleria Duemila, Inc., Pasay City, Philippines 2011 Complete and Unabridged, Institute of Contemporary Art, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore 2010 Faith and Reason, Manila Contemporary, Makati City, Philippines Lightning Show, Manila Contemporary, Makati City, Philippines See you in my next dream, Galleria Duemila, Pasay City, Philippines Ateneo Art Auction, Makati City, Philippines China International Gallery Exposition, China 2009 Art Singapore, The Contemporary Asian Art Fair, Singapore Drawing Painting, Galleria Duemila, Pasay City, Philippines China International Gallery Exposition, China Manila Art World Trade Center, Manila, Philippines Art Flood Auction Here Be Dragons, Manila Contemporary, Makati City, Philippines Art Manila ’09, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, Philippines Coloratura, mo_space, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City Recurring Fancies, Artis Corpus Gallery, Mandaluyong City 2008 Inaugural Show, Mag:net Gallery, Makati City, Philippines Christmas Show, Mag:net, Katipunan, Quezon City, Philippines 12 x 9 Show, West Gallery SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines 2007 Nostalgia is not what it used to be, Mag:net, Katipunan Quezon City, Philippines Christmas Show, Mag:net, Katipunan, Quezon City, Philippines 2006 On Paper, Mag:net, ABS-CBN, Quezon City, Philippines 2005 Unna, Galeria Esperanza, San Pablo City, Philippines Christmas Show, Mag:net, Katipunan, Quezon City, Philippines Zone, Mag:net Gallery, Makati City, Philippines 2004 Christmas Show, West Gallery, SM Megamall, Philippines Christmas Show, West Gallery, West Avenue, Philippines Christmas Show, West Gallery, Glorietta, Philippines Trip, Drawing Room, Makati City Inventory, Cubicle Gallery, Pasig City, Philippines The Sedimentation of the mind is a jumbled museum, Jorge Vargas Museum, UP Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 2002 Reflecting Skin, Pinto Art Gallery, Antipolo City, Philippines 2001 True Confessions: Words, Thoughts, Acts, Art Center SM Megamall, Philippines 2000 Drawings, Starbucks CafÊ, Makati City, Philippines Butterflies, Butterfly Blue Bar, Quezon City, Philippines 1999 Drawings in Color, Art Center, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines Recent Drawings, Drawing Room, Makati City, Philippines Lightning Show, Big Sky Mind Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines 1998 Illuminated Pleasures, Art Center, Sm Megamall Mandaluyong City, Philippines 1998 Ten: Recent Paintings, Lopez Museum, Pasig City, Philippines U.P Alumni Association, Ayala Museum, Makati City, Philippines Et al, Soumak, Makati City, Philippines Drawings, Finale Art File, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines Kata Kata, Third Space, Quezon City, Philippines 1997 The Inner Child, Gallery 3, Ayala Museum, Makati City, Philippines Personal Holidays, Mai Room, Ayala Museum, Makati City, Philippines Art at the Park, Greenbelt Park, Makati City, Philippines Conversational Piece, Gallery 3, Ayala Museum, Makati City, Philippines
The Miter Box, The Plumbing Trap, God and other Matters, West Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines Ground Zero, Art Center, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines Dividing Line, West Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines Hakut, Junk Shop Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines 1996 Dangerous Metaphor, Art Center, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines Images, Art Center, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines Wall Bound, Gallery 3, Ayala Museum, Makati City, Philippines Measure and Metaphor, Art Center, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines 1995 Journey to the Void, De La Salle University Gallery, Manila, Philippines Paintings by Numbers, CCP, Roxas Blvd., Manila, Philippines Recent Works, Finale Art File, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines 1994 Pleasure of Painting, Art Center, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines 1993 Fear and Desire, Bulwagang Juan Luna, CCP, Roxas Blvd., Manila, Philippines Large Animal Surgery Lab, West Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines Narrative and Allegory, Alliance Francaise de Manille, Makati City, Philippines 1992 Recent Paintings, Thesis Exhibitions, U.P College of Fine Arts, Quezon City, Philippines 1991 Embargo, U.P Faculty Center, Quezon City, Philippines Dog Days, Alliance Francaise de Manille, Makati City, Philippines TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS:
2001 Faith in the City, ABN AMRO House, Penang, Malaysia Faith in the City, Valentine Willie Fine Arts, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2000 Faith in the City, Earl Lu Gallery, SIA College of the Arts, Singapore COLLABORATIVE WORKS:
2004 Terrain Games: Collaboration with Sandra Palomar, Magnet Paseo, Makati, Philippines 1998 Sightings (Le Corbeau Rouge): Performance and installation with Sandra Palomar, Third Space Arts and Laboratory, Quezon City, Philippines Earthly Paragons: Collaborative painting exhibition with Popo San Pascual, Gallery 139, Alabang, Muntinlupa City, Philippines 1997 Box: Collaborative works with Sandra Palomar and others, Salle Stratis Andreadis (Mediatheque) of the Ecole Nationale Superieure Beau Arts, Paris, France AWARDS:
1998 1994
Shell Philippines: Shell Art Competition Finalist Philip Morris International: Philippine Art Awards, Jurors Choice
COMMISSIONED WORKS:
1997
MTV Philippines LG Collins Philippines Movies, Television, Rating and Classification Board (MTRCB) Philippine Airlines Lobby Lounge Kai Tak International Airport, Hong Kong
ART AUCTIONS:
2011 2010 2009 2002
Asian cultural council Ateneo art auction Asian cultural council Art flood auction Blue print auction
galleria duemila was established in 1975 by Italian born Silvana AncellottiDiaz. 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.
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