I’m not really fun of art because I do have preferential attention to music yet I fall short with my expectations when I was invited at the opening of the exhibit entitled About Face at the Lopez Memorial Museum last June 2, 2011.
“About Face touches on the practice of portraiture but is not solely about pictures of proposed selves. In a broader sense, the exhibition is about facades - human and institutional - what we pose up from for others to come to know us through. Since the face is usually the most immediate registration of a sense of self before public, we also attempt here to see much more limited sense, About Face can also be constructed as an allusion to reversals - forsaken positions, turns of fate, refusals of portrayals, frontal confrontations, acts of concealment, inversions of the seen and unseen.”
The exhibit featured works of Juan Luna, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, Fabian de la Rosa, Vicente Manansala, Juvenal Sanso, Fernando Amorsolo, Benedicto Cabrera, and the collections for the 150th birth commemoration of Dr. Jose Rizal…along with Contemporary artists Louie Talents, Renan Ortiz, Vermont Coronel and Alvin Zafra.
Walking along the hallway, I was captivated by the TV monitors that gave me a different welcome. I felt a sense of importance as I pass through it and I never imagine such installation could be appealing to my emotion. Nevertheless, I found myself next in a room where there were drawings but as I moved closer, I was amaze for it was drawn in a sand paper. With my fascination I began to ask a staff from the museum and keenly gave me the details that the artist had it drawn with his fingernails, as a way to make marks and lines on the surface.
Little by little I am beginning to unravel the uniqueness of how these contemporary artists portray the concept of the exhibit. Through enough, I had a silent laughter seeing a stencil of an old man’s face that with my curiosity I found out that it was made out of posters from the election we had recently. Furthermore, I am a bit hungry but my attention was called when I saw a caption that sez, “Do you believe that in order to do well it is necessary to do evil?”…Moving towards it on a plain white wall, I began to understand that it was from a line of Jose Rizal’s Noli me tangere. My interest grew and my hunger had spoiled as I saw the first edition of Rizal’s two famous Novels. As I entered the room, I saw a wonderful installation of Burned Bible Pages with a touch of light and shadow that really fascinated me. It was an artwork that redefines my interest again about art. It was a 40 day diary experience of Louie talents according to the museum staff. In my Opinion, I would say it is blasphemous. Seeing a sacred Bible being burned is something I never thought of as a Catholic. Maybe I am missing a lot of things in the Contemporary art scene. I could not help myself but asked if I may speak with the artist. When I was given the chance I did asked him straight and said “I felt your work is
Blasphemous, would you mind telling me what is the thinking behind your work? “
He clearly replied “I understand your concern but my artwork is about transforming biblical passages into diary entries and it took me 40 days to do this installation in Paris, France”
Having heard those lines, I pause for a while and tried to ask him why the bible and what’s with burning? He smiled and with a calm gesture he said “I am intimately familiar with it because I spent 17 years in a Catholic University and burning letter by letter is my meditative approach of a childhood penchant in decorating the edges of cards in my growing years when I use to play with matchsticks.”
As much as I wanted to look for possible questions to argue with the artist, Deep inside I know and felt that he completely knows what he is doing. Nevertheless, the exhibit location helped me understand and appreciate Art in a contemporary sense. A lot of people had shared my amazement and enthusiasm since the event was well thought, well organized and the preparation exceeding my outlook of what a regular exhibit used to be.
I really took time also to know the Curatorial consultant in the person of Eileen Ramirez along with Chit Ramirez who intensively made the set up into memorable experience for everyone. It is indeed an exhibit to look forward since Lopez Museum under the headship
Of Ms.Cedie Lopez Vargas is breaking barriers to come up with an exhibit that is worth going, an exhibit that redefines my perception about contemporary works of art.
Exhibit runs until Aug.27, 2011
well art may come in odd and dark forms, but may give a different meaning. would like to seem them personally though.
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