Nikki Luna, Zean Cabangis, Jojo Serrano, and Jet Pascua Open 2012 for the Silverlens Group

Nikki Luna, "Leaf Cuttings 1", detail

And so we begin again.

A young man in his 20s who has just come to his own joins forces with a staunch advocate of women’s rights, a painter resurrects from oblivion, while an expatriate Filipino reflects on his home country’s history. The silverlens ladies started their year—and ours too— by setting the bar high. If this trio of shows serves as harbingers for what we have in store for 2012’s art scene, we’re in for some pretty good stuff.

Zean Cabangis mixed media on canvas pieces above Nikki Luna, "Leaf Cuttings 1"

Shade My Eyes And I Can See You, Zean Cabangis and Nikki Luna

I would not have thought these two could work together, but visually, their pieces gel. In keeping with the silverlens thrust, both use photographs: Zean Cabangis as the base for his wall-bound mixed media pieces, Nikki Luna transforms them into light boxes. The two artists did not collaborate to bring forth a single message; you could say the gallery brought them into partnership. Nikki’s concept, however, is the stronger of the two. While her pieces complement Zean’s, I wonder if the physical handling required to experience her work may lead to them ultimately overshadowing his.

I first saw Zean’s work a year ago, at a solo exhibit in Art Informal. Just a few years out of school, his tentativeness came through as much as his promise. You could tell that he drew from works of more experienced, commercially successful colleagues like Nona Garcia or Geraldine Javier. It’s good to see him evolve since. His successive group show appearances have made him comfortable, allowed him to crystallize a look easily identifiable as his. Zean uses photo emulsions to transfer found images onto canvases before manipulating them with acrylic. He paints geometric patterns that skew his perspectives and obscure his figures. Bright paint over grainy photographs make for intriguing, enjoyable works.

If you happen to be Nikki’s friend on Facebook, you know how consumed she is by her advocacies, one of which is to call attention to the plight of five women, human rights defenders, who have been missing or murdered, acts allegedly perpetrated by the military. She means for her pieces to commemorate their cases, to keep the outrage at their fate alive. She handles this deftly and with restraint, in a decidedly non-hysterical manner.

Nikki went back to a device she has used before, in her piece Compartmentalized! originally from an exhibit at Mag:net Katipunan, also shown last year at Art Stage Singapore. The drawers of a specially fabricated bureau had been fitted out as light boxes. They contain images of objects that relate closely to her.

In this show, she calls each set of drawers Leaf Cuttings. Each piece is dedicated to the memory of a woman who has disappeared, to Sherlyn Cadapan, Karen Empeno, Tanya Domingo, Beng Hernandez, and Isabel Arriola. Pull open each drawer and they reveal photographs of mundane objects that belong to these women. The innocuousness of their things, a graduation sash or a little girl’s shoes, for instance, prove how these ladies could be anyone in our circle of acquaintances. You can imagine that for the loved ones who continue to search for them or demand justice on their behalf, these are all they hold on to. We don’t see their faces in the drawers, just as we may never will.

From Nikki:

“My first three shows were much more personal, more into relationships and a woman’s relationship with the home…I’ve been taking my masters in Women and Development Studies in UP (University of the Philippines). You get influenced by the plight of the marginalized, those who are oppressed. And I feel very strongly about that. I guess I’m done with focusing on who I am, and how I can relate it to my work. You go outside and there’s much more to talk about, much more to show.

Doing this was very emotional for me. I feel bad because this is the only thing I can do. It’s temporary. Later on it will be forgotten, their cases will be forgotten. I’d like to think that whatever I can do with my art, I can give them a voice. ”

A father looks through his daughter's mementos

Installation view

Zean Cabangis, "I Have No Problem Waiting"

Zean Cabangis, "Its Ok To Like Something For No Reason Any Difference"

Nikki Luna, "Leaf Cuttings 8" and "Leaf Cuttings 9"

Looking through "Leaf Cuttings 6"

Installation view

Zean Cabangis, "Skipping Town", detail

Exhibit installation view

Measure by Jojo Serrano; The Victoria by Jet Pascua

Across the bridge from silverlens, at SLab, we find the beautiful, massive paintings of Jojo Serrano. The biggest, Cornucopia, a quadriptych, measures an impressive 8 x 16 ft. (2.44 x 4.88 meters) in total. He paints his own collages, magnifying compositions he painstakingly puts together. Jojo told me he spends more time working on his bond paper sized collages, culling images and arranging them to his satisfaction, than he does translating them on canvas. His paintings are jam-packed, figures, objects, structures compressed in a confused heap of perfectly chosen colors (or non colors, as in the case of his piece Chandelier). Quite amazing!

Apparently, this show marks Jojo renaissance, his return after dropping out of the scene for the past few years. I do remember seeing some of his works at a small show in Finale last year, but I had no idea who he was. Let’s hope he sticks around this time.

In the small alcove of 20Square at the gallery’s rear, Jet Pascua, now based in Norway, has reconstructed the mast of The Victoria. Those familiar with Philippine history may recall that this ship is the only one from Ferdinand Magellan’s fleet that made it back to Spain. Its depleted crew not only carried the news of Magellan’s death, but also the discovery of an archipelago that subsequent explorers would name the Philippines and, eventually, conquer for the King of Spain.

In Jet’s piece, The Victoria’s mast has fallen, the ship is about to sink. He spurs us to imagine what our history would have been like had the carrack not returned to Spain in 1522. How would the next 350 years have turned out?

Shade My Eyes And I Can See You at silverlens, Measure at SLab, and The Victoria at 20Square run from 5 January to 4 February 2012, YDG Bldg, 2320 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati City. Phone (632) 816-0044 or visit www.silverlensphoto.com or www.slab.silverlensphoto.com