Andres Barrioquinto, Iya Consorio, and Tad Pagaduan at West Gallery

By Andres Barrioquinto

For his solo exhibit, Shadow Dancer, Andres Barrioquinto continues with his series of portraits embellished by elements from Japanese prints. He has taken this direction for the past two years, decidedly moving away from the darker, mildly grotesque, faces of his early paintings into the realm of the decorative. Andy has adopted the bright palette associated with these prints— bright purples, and oranges, and reds— piling on layers of traditional Japanese figures (the samurai, the geisha, the theater actor) as adornments that partially obscure his subjects’ features.

As a variation on his previous pieces, the smaller paintings in this set (which measure 3 ft. x 3 ft. or 91 cm x 91 cm) consist of two canvases set atop each other. Andy has painted the actual portraits on smaller canvases anchored onto canvases full of patterns and figures. The layering on his bigger works (at 3.5 ft. x 3.5 ft. or 101.6 cm. x 101.6 cm.) stick to the more conventional single plane. All his paintings display his technical virtuosity.

Andy has parlayed this current approach into great commercial success. This new batch of highly accessible, easy-to-appreciate, even pretty, paintings will surely keep his fans (and they are spread throughout Southeast Asia) happy and contented.

Two young artists take over the other two exhibit spaces at West Gallery, with shows that run concurrent to Andy’s. Iya Consorio has drawn faces that look as if they have been quilted from different patterns that also take inspiration from Japanese prints. Tad Pagaduan’s ominous A Biologist Last 666, on the other hand, consist of small paintings and pencil drawings, also figurative, that look as if a portion of the work has been cut and stripped off to reveal more. His work feels raw and unpolished, but I thought they had potential. I liked them, as I did Iya’s detailed pieces.

Andres Barrioquinto Shadow Dancer, Iya Consorio Lonesome Hunter, and Tad Pagaduan A Biologist Last 666 run from 11 November to 3 December 2011 at West Gallery, 48 West Avenue, Quezon City. Phone (632) 411 0336 or visit http://www.westgallery.org