No Talking Points 2

NO TALKING POINTS 2 A GROUP EXHIBITION

BY SEVEN ARTISTS FROM THE PHILIPPINES

NO TALKING POINTS 2 A GROUP EXHIBITION

BY SEVEN ARTISTS FROM THE PHILIPPINES

_ BERNARDO PACQUING CRIS VILLANUEVA ELAINE NAVAS JUAN ALCAZAREN LYLE BUENCAMINO NILO ILARDE PETE JIMENEZ

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aesthetic convergences

Seven Philippine contemporary artists showcase new works in the exhibition entitled No Talking Points, affirming parallel yet distinct aesthetic trajectories and an unfolding fascination with the physicality of form.

The show may be titled No Talking Points, implying the absence of a shared framework or areas of agreement. It is true that the featured artists have divergent ways of engaging their visual interests; but they also have common points of exploring the physical dimensions and potentials of their chosen medium.

Most of the works featured in the exhibition are paintings, spanning the range of figurative to non-figurative works. Juan Alcazaren, for instance, merges the aesthetics of graphic design, pattern and painting in two works entitled Horn of Plenty and Plenty of Horns, using oil on linoleum. Reducing otherwise figurative images into simpler, geometric components, Alcazaren creates alien shapes floating around the canvas, all tinted with whimsical yet calming shades of blue.

The title is a humorous nod to the artist’s reflexive gesture: he inverts the turn of a phrase and puts into visual form the consequences of this linguistic reversal; what results is a play on the visual as well as the verbal.

The relationship between word and image is further explored in Lyle Buencamino’s series of small works, Buencamino’s vertically-oriented impasto works are a seamless pastiche of gesture and graffiti, message and material. It is difficult to distinguish exactly where writing ends and painting begins in these images, where painted object meets the painter’s words. He ends up creating an extensive series of slogans and sayings—random thoughts and reflections on the everyday experiences of an artist, words to wise up with. Embellished with patterns and often juxtaposed against obscured images. Buencamino’s compositions delve in the tangibility of paint and gesture.

Discarding text from his process, on the other hand, is Nilo Ilarde, who engages the physicality of painterly form by exploring the viscosity and vividness of paint. He produces a series of small-scale abstract works for the show, converting trays, palettes and frames into canvases. Using pigments freshly squeezed out from the tube and slathered on their surfaces, Ilarde creates random swirls and swaths of almost sculptural forms. The resulting play between palette and pigment, spread and swirl generates shapes which can rekindle one’s fascination with the material itself. Ilarde’s works concentrate on generating vertical compositions, collapsing into a mass of wormlike forms.

Bernardo Pacquing similarly emphasizes the relationship between form and space in Here and There, an oil on canvas diptych. Pacquing is known for his subdued yet sparse abstraction, emphasizing the clarify of form and the rawness of surface. Here, he juxtaposes traces of automatic writing with geometric forms, all set against blank backgrounds. The forms denote the opposite poles of measured control and random spontaneity. Pacquing’s works attempt to let

lisa ito

no talking points 2

b e r n a r d o p a c q u i n g has been publicly exhibiting his works since 1993.

He was twice awarded the Grand Prize for Non-Representational Painting at the 1992 and 1999 Open Art Competitions of the Art Association of the Philippines (a a p ). By 2000, he received and completed the Freeman Fellowship Grant at the Vermont Studio Center, United States. In 2004, Pacquing was named as one of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ (c c p ) Thirteen Artists Awardees.

here and there

(diptych) oil on canvas 152 x 244 cm 2013

lets end the beguine c r i s v i l l a n u e v a j r . was awarded the Grand Prize in the 2005 Philip Morris Philippine Art Awards and has since then been twice recognized with the Philippine Art Awards Jurors’ Choice citations for 2006 and 2010.

He holds two degrees in Fine Arts and Political Science from the University of the Philippines.

no talking

acrylic on canvas

points 2

183 x 183 cm 2013

oil on canvas

no talking

91 x 122 cm

points 2

2013

e l a i n e n a v a s holds degrees in Psychology and Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines. She was given the Juror’s Choice recognition at the Art Association of the Philippines Art Awards for two consecutive years in 1994 and 1995, and was thrice given an Honorable Mention in the Philip Morris Art Awards in the Philippines (1995) and in SIngapore (2002 and 2005). She held her first solo show in 1994 and has been holding annual solo exhibitions ever since. She lives and works in Singapore.

kangkong, squash, chinese cabbage, fried noodle, in waiting

j u a n a l c a z a r e n studied landscape archtecture and sculpture at the University of the Philippines. He held his first solo exhibition in 1992 and has participated in numerous group shows since then, holding solo exhibits in various exhibition venues in the Philippines, Singapore and Hong Kong.

In 1993, he received the Juror’s Choice recognition from the Art Association of the Philippines Annual Competition (Sculpture category). In 1996, a video work of his won Second Place in the Cultural Center of the Philippines (ccp) Gawad c c p. By 2000, he was named as one of the ccp’s Thirteen Artists Awardees.

horn of plenty (snow dome series #2)

no talking

oil on linoleum

points 2

182 x 152 cm 2013

l y l e b u e n c a m i n o graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts in 2005 and held his first solo exhibition a year after in 2006. This debut exhibit won for him an international studio residency grant from the 2007 Ateneo Art Awards, resulting in a studio residency at La Trobe University, Australia. He has been regularly exhibiting since 2003.

Untitled #12 no talking

oil on canvas

points 2

41 x 30.5 cm 2008

n i l o i l a r d e entered the Philippine art scene in the early 1980s by being commended during the Young Arts in Asia Now exhibition held at the Hong Kong Center in 1980 and winning the a a p annual national competition (Painting) in 1981. He started exhibiting his work as part of group exhibitions since 1983 and held his first one-man exhibition in 1987.

Alongside painting and installation work, Ilarde has served as an exhibition director and curator of numerous shows of contemporary Philippine art for various art institutions and galleries over the past three decades.

Paint Things 8 oil and collage on pegboard

no talking

53.5 x 40.5 cm

points 2

2013

p e t e j i m e n e z is a sculptor, art director, animator and graphic designer.

A multi-awarded figure in the advertising industry, Jimenez has received various national and international citations for his work in animation and commercial direction since 1993. Jimenez was among the regional finalists in the 1998 Art Association of the Philippines National Centennial Painting Competition. In 2000, he held his first one-man exhibition of steel sculptures. He studied Visual Communications at the University of the Philippines.

man steel

no talking

92 x 75 x 32 cm

points 2

2013

aesthetic convergences

naturally formed textures and gestural strokes shine forth and be encountered as such, attempting to strike a balance between sensual perception and concept.

Striking a contrast to Pacquing and Ilarde’s non-representational process is Elaine Navas, who works in figuration yet uses a painterly technique to draw out the very physical textures of her still life subjects. Her work depicts a set of wrapped vegetables and noodles, set down on soil or ground. Here, one senses the pleasure of wielding pigment to create recognizable organic forms: greens, leaves, stems and strings all denoting the bounty of the earth are modeled through thick and confidently rendered brushstrokes. Almost gestural in its manner of painting, the artist’s work conveys a sense of ease and confidence with yielding the medium. Lines, textures and tones found in these actual objects are magnified and celebrated in Navas’ work.

Approching photorealism and naturalistic representation, meanwhile, is the work Let’s End the Beguine, an acrylic on canvas painting by Cris Villanueva Jr. Here, the artist presents to the viewer a literally larger than life sized image of balut: a type of Filipino street food made from developing duck embryo boiled and eaten while still in its shell. The work also masterfully showcases Villanueva’s distinct style as an artist, where he hand-paints spherical patterns to create the impression of the balut image being encased in bubble wrap. Rendered in black and white tones, the alien, almost abstract, mass conjures an air of distant detachment instead of the raw, visceral spectacles often associated with food photographs. Villanueva here engages in wordplay, between the representation of both balut and balot (wrap).

The sole sculptor in this exhibiting group, Pete Jimenez presents a series of steel works for the show produced from metal scrap: welding and fusing an array of different metal parts to create composite forms. The process is one that fuses whimsical spontaneity and deliberate technical workmanship, reusing metal discards and breathing new life into these birthed objects.

Like the others in the show, Jimenez’s works also employ a balance of witty wordplay. Jimenez translates into three-dimensional form several verbal and visual puns. This is seen in freestanding sculptures, such as the two different works entitled Pasta and Sausages. Here, Jimenez fuses together various metal parts into compositions resembling sausages connected by casings and different pasta types. This ability to see and draw out images of the everyday in the shapes created by metal discards is a longstanding feature of Jimenez’s work. On the other hand, two other wall-bound works in the show, entitled Man and Woman, are created from complementary shapes.

As a whole, the broad spectrum of works represented in No Talking Points demonstrates the many ways in which the work of art is presented as a material and reflexive object. The show teases out such aesthetic convergences between the use of media and representation, attesting to the possibilities of further exploration and experimentation with the visual. lisa ito

NO TALKING POINTSÂ 2 A GROUP EXHIBITION

BY SEVEN ARTISTS FROM THE PHILIPPINES

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TAKSU is a leading contemporary art gallery and specialist in Southeast Asia. Representing selections of fine art with distinctive urban edge, we are at the forefront of contemporary art in this region. TAKSU works to forge a platform for established and emerging artists to share their pool of creativity and knowledge through its residency programs and exhibitions. Encapsulating the true meaning of the word TAKSU; divine inspiration, energy, and spirit.

Suherwan Abu Director, TAKSU Galleries

ISBN 978 - 981- 07- 8232-0 PAPERBACK

978 - 981- 07- 8233-7 E-BOOK

Essay Lisa Ito Graphic Design Jeffrey Lim / Studio 25 Printer Unico Services Artworks & Images Š 2013 Participating Artists This publication may be reproduced in any form for academic, editorial and/or non-commercial purposes without special permission from the artist(s) and gallery, with acknowledgement of the source. For other purposes, prior consent is needed.

BERNARDO PACQUING CRIS VILLANUEVA ELAINE NAVAS JUAN ALCAZAREN LYLE BUENCAMINO NILO ILARDE PETE JIMENEZ

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ISBN 978 - 981- 07- 8232-0 PAPERBACK

978 - 981- 07- 8233-7 E-BOOK