Maya Munoz and Kiko Escora Deliver Short Frictions

Maya Munoz, "Untitled V"

Maya Muñoz and Kiko Escora enjoy a reputation for consistent work. Their two-person exhibit, Short Frictions, now on its second week at Manila Contemporary, does nothing to dispel this notion. You could even say that Sidd Perez, the exhibit’s curator, succeeds in prodding them slightly from their norm. This has resulted in pieces that do them both credit, Maya more so than Kiko, in my opinion.

I enjoyed Maya’s smaller paintings, canvases not more than two feet in length (56 cm), which comprise all but three of the pieces she exhibits. They portray single figures, one set of men, another of dogs; their features rendered indistinct. The men look mysterious and somewhat menacing, the dogs, in contrast, fuzzy and warm. Now who would you label as beasts?

From afar, the works give off the impression of paint that has run, of watercolors washed out in the rain. Up close, you appreciate the details: the grid like pattern Maya has etched onto the thick paint, the drips, the bright green she used to enhance two of the portraits (Untitled IV and Untitled V). I especially liked the trio of works she calls I Will Never Remember Your Face (I, II, III). They hang beside each other, like a set of contact prints, or film stills, displayed in sequence. Do they recount a scene of violence or of passion? Hard to tell.

Kiko exhibits four large oil on canvas paintings, portraits as well, to complement Maya’s. Like hers, we don’t get a glimpse of his subjects’ faces. While done well, I don’t find them as appealing as I do his charcoal drawings. They don’t deliver the same impact as his distinctive visages on paper— the hip, chic, and badass urban denizens he has claimed as his own. These feel too generic, tame even, lacking in attitude. They don’t give off the Kiko vibe.

Yes we don’t get any earthshaking works from either Maya or Kiko in this suite. But they’ve both mounted an exhibit worth making time for—nothing less than what we would expect from this dependable duo.

Short Frictions runs from 15 October to 6 November 2011 at Manila Contemporary, Whitespace, 2314 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati City. Phone (632) 844-7328 or visit http://www.manilacontemporary.com