Slippery Surfaces

SLIPPERY SURFACES JIGGER CRUZ GINO BUEZA LUBIN NEPOMUCENO JONATHAN OLAZO

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S S

_ ISBN 978 - 981- 09-2429 - 4 PAPERBACK

978 - 981- 09-2430 - 0 E-BOOK

SLIPPERY SURFACES JIGGER CRUZ GINO BUEZA LUBIN NEPOMUCENO JONATHAN OLAZO

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Curated by conceptual artist and curator Nilo Ilarde, “Slippery Surfaces” brings together four contemporary artists working on aspects and modes of painting and ultimately focusing on the engagement of the painting’s surface as an overhead ideal. Considering all formal elements employed in the painting procedure, the making of the surface of a painting falls into gist: the romantic build-up of a region within the confines of a stretched ground that is continually extended outside of it and then into three-dimensional space. It acts as a self-counterpoint as its forward inclination gives definition to a receding gaze inward the picture plane, suggesting depth, and, allegorically, a sense of history, a past and a future, and perhaps proof of being identified and having identification.

By itself, paint is the slippery substance that is pushed around the canvas. Having its own density and malleability, it may be sculpted, splattered, made to curl and coil, fashioned into impastos, applied thinly as if a veil, and conversely, its opacity covering painted images underneath. It is both a mirror and a means of camouflage. “Slippery” may also connote “slippages” or “slips” in representation as layers of images are constructed, thus meanings are discarded and then assumed, variably, at the discretion of each of the artist’s vision, sense of form, and detached stance in storytelling. All these coming into play subvert ordinary associations and arrive at new and unique possibilities, too slippery to be caught, bound, and categorized but still tempered by a known seduction that is aspired to by each painter.

CURATOR NILO ILARDE ESSAY JONATHAN OLAZO s l i p p e ry s u r fac e s

Jigger Cruz has worked on paintings in a chameleon-like frenzy, adapting contrasting styles, evoking strains of the pluralism of the 1980’s and producing premeditated layers that are eccentric and elegant, perhaps in a neo-Baroque sensitivity of ornament and quotation. In a series of paintings that has been associated as the artist’s known style, the protagonist (or antagonist, or both) in these scenes are sculptural and objectified globs of paint freshly squeezed from the tube. The globs are employed unto a painted scene that is exquisitely painted by Cruz, and thus almost obliterating these already existing pictures. The risk is bizarre but beautiful, and the brilliant superimposition of this paint matter hints at the artist’s foresight and cunningness.

Transformed and Disappeared 4 oil and spray paints on paper

/ 64 x 50 cm / 2014

j igge r cruz b. 1984, p hil ip p ine s graduated with Bachelor of Fine Arts from Far Eastern University, Philippines. He has been actively participating in exhibitions since 2004 in Philippines, Germany, Italy, Singapore, USA and Switzerland. He had his first solo in 2 0 0 8 and mounted total 9 solo exhibitions till date: “sw ing”, Blanc Art Space (2 0 0 8 ), “cons t ruct ing de cons t ruct ion”, Tala Gallery (2 0 0 9 ) “d e a d end”, West Gallery (2011), “ant i- de p re s sa n t s o n pa p e r ”, Crucible Gallery (2011), “gl it ch habitat ion”, Primae Noctis (2 0 1 2 ), “spat i a l sooth e r” – West Gallery (2012), “birt h o f t h e pa rt y ba n ta m paintings ”, Secret Fresh (2012), “de p t h c i rc u s”, West Gallery (2 0 1 3 ) and “s urface de fault ”, Light And Space Contemporary (2 0 1 3 ).

s l i p p e ry s u r fac e s / j i g g e r c ru z

s l i p p e ry s u r fac e s / j i g g e r c ru z

transformed and disappeared 3 oil and spraypaints on paper / 64 x 50 cm / 2014

transformed and disappeared 2 oil and spraypaints on paper / 64 x 50 cm / 2014

s l i p p e ry s u r fac e s / j i g g e r c ru z

s l i p p e ry s u r fac e s / g i n o b u e z a

The T’s that set it apart

ac ry l i c o n bleached canvas 91.5 x 122 cm / 2014

At given times, Gino Bueza maintains his paintings are solely about explorations of the painter’s materials and the painted surface; but there is so much that transpires in-between that the artist is coy about, and only reinforces the complexity of thought that is twined in each work. The juxtaposition of both abstract and representational images open up interpretations that say of the criticality Bueza imposes in his works. The commentaries, most of the time comprised by conceptual departures consistent with the artist’s musings on painting, are hidden beneath the beautiful pictures and excellent representations, graphically disguised or painterly modeled. Interpretations shift, as an image acts as a counter to another, the negation producing more meanings, anticipated and accidental. The painting’s surface is a receptacle of ironies and visual puns deftly painted and it is this overlaying that gives relevance to the final outcome. It is reminiscent of the palimpsest – or the perpetual written text, a strategy utilized by vanguard artists today that gives structure to Bueza’s thought provoking paintings, and thus allowing the artist the expression of his immediate sphere that is crucial to his practice. gino bue za b . 1 9 8 7 , p h i l i p p i n e s graduated from the University of the Philippines, Diliman. He was the Grand Prize winnner for the “4 0 t h Shell Students” Art Competition under the Oil/Acrylic catagory. Gino participated in numeruous exhibitions since 2 0 0 5 and had his solo exhbitions in 2 0 1 3 : “Professionally Laymanned” in Light & Space Contemporary, Fairview Q.C. , “On The Roll, Thats A Wrap” in West Gallery, West Ave, Q.C. and “a b b rv t n ’ s” in Blanc Gallery, Katipunan Ave. Ext. Q.C.

s l i p p e ry s u r fac e s / l u b i n n e p o m u c e n o

Flesh and Blood 2 o i l pa i n t, toy c as t l e / 8 0 x 1 2 8 . 5 x 2 0 . 5 c m / 2 0 1 4

s l i p p e ry s u r fac e s / l u b i n n e p o m u c e n o

Art Appreciation above; art appreciation 2 oil paint, diecast 32 x 30.5 x 25.5 cm / 2014

right; art appreciation 1 oil paint, paint, can, stick 50 x 24 x 24 cm / 2014

lubin leo v. nepomuceno b.1971, philippines completed his bfa in Sculpture from University of the Philippines (up), Diliman.

Since 1992, he has been actively participating in numerous exhibitions in the Philippines. He had his first solo show “3 one man shows” in Vargas Museum, University of the Philippines (1992), followed by “asleep” in West Gallery (1995) and “nomatterwhereyougothereyoua re” at Mo_Space (2013)

Perhaps disguised as hybrids that are beyond classification, Lubin Nepomuceno has worked on paintings that adhere to the proposition that painting is more than just an agent of mimetic means. In a nutshell, painting is about painting, and echoing the most influential mindset in contemporary art practice – the medium is indeed the message and nothing else. Using unorthodox materials and techniques other than the traditional paintbrushes and easels, Nepumoceno’s excursions pose inquiries on conventional classifications. Paint is applied as globular matter, and Nepumoceno gets away from painting these on two-dimensional supports hung on the wall and proceeds to cover and shield everyday objects such as paint cans, toy castles, and toy cars. These objects occupy their own space, having a front and a back, and thus tackle said conventions. But it is also difficult to escape the implications of such actions – of covering and concealing objects with paint.

The artist chooses familiar objects to paint on. A common denominator that could be said is that they come from an adolescent period that is carefree, brimming with innocence, marked by curiosity. Concealing something with a painting material is something connotative of covering flaws, such as filling material that is used to cover the cracks of sculptures and monuments.

Perhaps the artist has found sublime interests in these excursions, other than what is otherwise deemed as essentially and interestingly pragmatic.

s l i p p e ry s u r fac e s / jo n at h a n o l a z o

Room For Nostalgia ac ry l i c o n c a n vas / 1 2 2 x 1 8 3 c m / 2 0 1 3

The Collapsing Garden o i l a n d ac ry l i c m e d i u m s o n c a n vas 61 x 46 cm / 2013

Jonathan Olazo has worked on variations of the abstract format and one of these tap into the vein of non-representational painting that is about gesture and mark-making. To the artist, abstraction is very much about the formal qualities of paint, finding beauty in how paint is applied without premeditation. He engages in finding marks that are of interest, perhaps decided upon by a personal judgment that seizes these forms that have seemingly come into their own – and decidedly not forced. He looks at abstract painting as something part of a larger spectrum, and its processes as something almost sacred. For Olazo, abstraction today carries the burden of its own history, and sees the activity as something in the gray of the spiritual, romantically nostalgic, and about the unadulterated and pure. j o n a t h a n o l a z o b . 1 9 6 9 , p h i l i p p i n e s studied at the University of the Philippines, College of Fine Arts from 1 9 8 7 - 1 9 9 2 . He is currently enrolled in m f a Program, University of the Philippines, College of Fine Arts, Diliman. Jonathan has been actively participated in many exhibitions in the Philippines, Malaysia and Japan. He had mounted total of 2 0 solo exhibitions from 1 9 8 7 to 2 0 1 3 . He was awarded the ‘1 3 Artists Awards’

by Cultural Center of the Philippines (1 9 9 4 ), Grand Prize for Philippine Association of Printmakers (1 9 8 7 ), 3 r d Prize for Art Association of the Philippines, Printmaking Category (1 9 8 6 ), Awarded Two Week Residency in Fukuoka, Japan by independent curator, Mizuki Endo (2 0 0 4 ) and Voted Artist of the Year with Rey Halili, Art Manila Newspaper Art Awards (2 0 0 3 )

s l i p p e ry s u r fac e s / jo n at h a n o l a z o

an armor, a helmet, and a double – edged sword 1

o i l a n d ac ry l i c o n c a n vas / 1 5 2 . 5 x 1 2 2 c m / 2 0 1 3 ( e ac h )

an armor, a helmet, and a double – edged sword 2

s l i p p e ry s u r fac e s

All in all, the artworks in “Slippery Surfaces” revel in the exaltation of painting: of paint as paint- in its own intricacies and empire-like autonomy, exposing possibilities and resolving conundrums. Raising inquiries for what constitutes the seductive nature of the painted surface, perhaps it echoes the brilliant statement of one of the greatest of the Pop artists, and in a paraphrase: you will know who I am by looking at my skin, the skin of the surface of my painting; and certainly the process and implications of painting remains interestingly elusive.

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Artwork on covers; detail; Jigger Cruz Transformed And Disappeared 1 oil and spray paints on paper 64 x 50 cm / 2014 Gino Bueza Russian Reanimation Over Wine acrylic on canvas 91.5 x 122 cm / 2014 Jonathan Olazo Aphorisms – The Banality Of Evil oil, enamel and acrylic on canvas 137 x 244 cm / 2014

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.

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Lubin Nepomuceno Flesh And Blood 1 oil paint, toy castle 89 x 95.5 x 20.5 cm / 2014 Curator Nilo Ilarde Essay Jonathan Olazo Graphic Design Jeffrey Lim / Studio 25 Printer Unico Services Artworks & Images © 2014 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.

SLIPPERY SURFACES JIGGER CRUZ GINO BUEZA LUBIN NEPOMUCENO JONATHAN OLAZO

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S S

_ ISBN 978 - 981- 09-2429 - 4 PAPERBACK

978 - 981- 09-2430 - 0 E-BOOK