Familiarity with Jose Tence Ruiz’s body of work holds the key to understanding his new show, Dessicated Proxy, running until the end of this month at Galleria Duemila in Pasay City.
We know Bogie, 56, as a stalwart of the social realists; his multi media works do not shirk from delivering his views on burning issues. In this exhibit, he goes back to the controversy that erupted in August last year at the Cultural Center of the Philippines when the piece Poleteismo by Mideo Cruz incurred the wrath of the local Catholic Church hierarchy. That installation, which incorporated a bright red dildo on a wooden crucifix and a pair of Mickey Mouse ears on a small statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, resulted in death threats, criminal charges, and the eventual closing down of the show.
Bogie revisits some of his oft-used devices to comment on contrived expressions of faith. The corseted cotillion ladies, those damsels decked out in 18th century, pre-French revolution garb, plus the bungee-jumping Christ, and the gothic cathedral reappear to buoy his case against pious displays brought out only when convenient. It is best left to Bogie to expound on his exhibit’s rather enigmatic title, as well as the paintings and sculpture he has put together for this show:
Dessicated Proxy runs from 7 January to 29 February 2012 at Galleria Duemila, 210 Loring St., Pasay City. Phone (632) 833-9815 or visit www.galleriaduemila.com