Exhibitions

Everyone loves a circus - but will the circus love you back?

To some, a circus may trigger memories of the wondrous joys of childhood. It’s the excitement of a fair arriving in town, candy striped tents being set up, and barkers crowing all sorts of delights. The popcorn and candy give off all sorts of heavenly smells, and there are tons of prizes waiting to be won, just over at the next booth.

That certainly seems to be the approach by carnie-kid Jesse Camacho, with his hero “Jack” all adorned in clown make-up (“Why Do I Have To”) or imprisoned in impossible chains, à la Houdini (“Comfort”). On the other hand, the elfin Gemart Ortega serves up delightful confections of kids smothered and dripping in ice cream flavors, just like those most pleasant dreams of that corner ice cream parlor dishing out perpetual sundaes and sorbets.

To others, a circus may refer to something more sinister. Wunderkid Aldrin Tamidles, aka Alburoto, makes snide references to the crocodiles in the government. In “Clone”, his jester puts on another costume - that of rapacious gator - on top of his clown suit. “Crocodile Tears” serves up the head of the reptile on a dish, dagger in hand. (And crocodiles seem to be a favorite, as Jesse Camacho’s avatar scoops out fish from the jaws of a croc in his “For Fame”.)

As it is very pointedly remarked upon by the dead serious Kiko Moran in his almost-fluorescent works, with bold crimson, orange and lemon-yellow colors jumping off his canvasses, the Philippine government is failing in all of its challenges, whether it be that of mainland China (“Carou-Xi”), the pandemic (“Imyunito”), mental health (“Mindfulness”) or hunger (Adolf Eater) - a real circus in itself.

Meanwhile, Bryan Antonio, aka Humbly in his past incarnation, offers a peek from an almost-alien perspective, with his diffuse, wide-eyed critters (“Happy Inside” and “Light in the Darkness”) giving goosebumps to the onlooker. What is it with those otherworldly eyes that gaze at us and make us think that we are the strange ones? Are we, instead, the carnival curiosities?

Gemart Ortega dishes out ‘Melba’, an adorable kid wallowing in sticky ice cream pigtails and Jesse Camacho sculpts an impish apple picker named JackLeQuin (after harlequin, get it?). Kiko Moran, on the other hand, and true to the times, dreams up his ‘Imyunito,’ a just-vaxxed hero with both a hypodermic needle as well as a speech bubble attached. Bryan Antonio gives us, in “Happy Adventure”, one of his famous bootleg toys - a clown, of course!

All of these phantasmagorical yet oh-so-real tests of our sanity would make the most normal of us run to the madhouse. Or better yet, its nearest functioning equivalent, the circus. At least, there, the house of horrors harbors quite ordinary denizens. Or does it?

What a delightful circus to get lost in. So take those clunky shoes off, sit back, and enjoy this roller coaster of a ride.

These are the days which will be written into history books. We will look back, ponder on the imponderables, and retrace the events as they came flooding in and overwhelming us, pushing humanity aside and tearing normality apart.

What then, the pandemic’s impact on art? More specifically, how did this horrific nightmare and its innumerable consequences affect Filipino artists?

JP Duray can be viewed through this lens. A study in contradictions, JP is apparently reserved, even aloof. But unlike introverts, he breaks out into song, dishes tunes from his portable piano, and jerks into dance moves at the slightest provocation. Good looking, one would have thought that klieg lights and glamour poses would hold more attraction for him than the more laborious and painstaking world of creating molds, sculpting resin, and applying war paint.

But this gregarious lad is now known for the most fantastic, beautifully bizarre pop sculptures. JP’s quirky sensibilities translate into figurines fashioned from his inexhaustible imagination.

Babies with insatiable hunger pangs get represented as diaper-clad tots, but gifted with gaping jaws that are embedded within extended bellies.

A representation of what seems to be Senator Leila de Lima gets sculpted into a Wonder Woman/Darna costume, with a wrist-cuffed hand pointed to the heavens.

White-coated surgeons are rendered with various body parts held in the palms of their hands - a representation that became especially popular with real doctors at the height of the pandemic, as though medical professionals needed artistic validation in JP’s figurines.

That was Face A. That was pre-covid. But JP has other facets to him, and this pandemic has enabled him to tap into those other dimensions, and reveal other creative directions he wishes to pursue.

In this show, JP intends to debut another of his facets. Christened with the moniker “Anoni Mouse,” this other artist within JP’s complex personae prefers works on canvas, peppered with orifices, lips and other sorts of appendages. Anoni amalgamates body openings into a striking assemblage of pouts, frowns, and grimaces.

Exhibitions

Visayas Art Fair 2024

Making Waves

Paint The Town Red

Space-O-Rama

The Brut Collective: First Stop Cebu

Hide & Seek

Subtle Alchemy

Street Beat

Labtik Sang Langit

Bleum

Call For Abstracts

XOXO,

Harmony in Heritage

Honest Immediacy

Let The Pieces Fall Where They May

Above and beyond us

Chasing Colors

Ballad of the Watcher

No Strings On Me

Cross Currents

Familiar Echoes

Devotion

CHROMATICized

Strange Beasts 2: Elemental

FOCUS

Qube at the VIsayas Art Fair 2023

Heritage in DistINKtion

Xandrine

The World In Love With Itself

Qube at MoCAF

Metamorphi

Historical Distortion

Baybayon

Metamorphosing

MUGNA DIX

LIMBS

LIL RASCALS

ITUM NA IDÔ

Independence Reimagined

FIGURE OUT: Temporal and Conceptual Configurations in Non-Pictorial Space

Mother and Child

Koantum Balud

Bejeweled

Salta

Landscapes of Diaspora

ART FAIR PHILIPPINES 2023 feat. Words Unspoken

Under The Same Southern Sky

Beyond Borders In Parallel Time

Avalanche

I Am

"and floaters"

Qube x Visayas Art Fair 2022

Liwat Liwat (Repeat)

Mythologies

Dwight Lu

Rites/Rituals

Joyful Textures

Underdeveloped & Overexposed

Dangerous Beauty

New Chapter

Perception

Veneered Desires

Pucker & Bloat

Party Peepz

Vessels of Time

Pearls

No Straight Lines

MoCAF 2022 (Modern and Contemporary Art Festival)

Un Mundo En Color (A World of Color)

A Remembrance of Rain

Into The Blue

Punan Ang Patlang

Baggage Revolution

Angina

Karatula - Children of the rainbow

Time Transfixed

Metanoia

Midnight Society

Carnival Quintet