Kim Atienza’s Magnificent Cabinet of Curiosities

Elmer Borlongan, "Laklak", 1994

Kim Atienza inadvertently set me on the road to art addiction.  In 2003, one of the pieces from his collection, Alfredo Esquillo Jr.’s Mamakinley, held me in thrall at the Whitney Museum.  The quest to learn more about an artist I hadn’t heard of till then lured me into the world of contemporary Philippine art. I’ve been fixated ever since.

Kim, of course, has been hooked for much longer. As these select pieces from his collection attest, his eye had been drawn to the likes of Elmer Borlongan, Geraldine Javier, and Jose Legaspi long before Christie’s or Sotheby’s, or any of the hundreds currently in their waiting lists, had even heard of them. He acquired most of his works in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when few of Manila’s art collectors ventured into paintings of the macabre and the morbid, or even considered names unestablished in the scene.

This exhibit in The Picasso’s gallery, put together by Museum Foundation’s Lisa Periquet and Dindin Araneta, had been set to coincide with the foundation’s annual Art In The Park project. As the exhibit notes detail, the show’s title, Cabinet of Curiosities, refers to the practice during the 16th to 18th centuries by European collectors to house  artifacts in rooms especially fitted out for their appreciation and convenient viewing.  As an inveterate collector, Kim’s trove spans more than just art; they extend to his varied interests: fossils, exotic animals, watches, off road vehicles.  The show attempts to recreate his affinity for the unusual, evidenced by these examples of pieces done early in the careers of these artists, long before they reached the apex of their practices.

Elmer Borlongan’s Laklak must count among the most powerful paintings he’s ever made.  One of four that he produced for the 1994 Thirteen Artists Awards, its two companion pieces, Batugan and Karibal, now belong to the Singapore Art Museum.  Emong kept the fourth, Pamilyang Menthol, for his personal collection.  As in all his work since, these underline his connection to the everyman, the Pinoy inner city dwellers engaging in seemingly innocuous activities like smoking around a sofa or relaxing with a bottle of beer.  His use of a limited palette for this suite of works, their dramatic black background, and the elongated, mannered rendering of his figures, imbue his paintings with an illicit, mysterious air.  What are they really up to?

Another Emong, an untitled 1986 work that he classified as part of his Punk series, shows a side of the artist I’ve never seen before.  He painted this when still a student at UP, a composition full of patterns and figures, the narrative less obvious than his current work.

Also surprising are the two Geraldine Javier canvases on exhibit.  She completed these in 1996 as a third year thesis project.  They recall X-ray plates, perhaps still harking back to her days as a nurse before she decided to follow her passion for the visual arts.  They do not at all hint at the photorealistic master she would eventually become.

You can glimpse themes that would later recur in Alfredo Esquillo’s work in the two framed pieces in the main gallery area.  Amazing oil paintings on paper, they already display his fascination for folk Catholicism and archival photographs.   On both Nazareno and The Blazing Conductor, he has painted flames bursting from the heads of his figures, a device he still uses on his paintings on rubber panels to underscore fervent expressions of faith.

A wall shields off a section at the back of the gallery where two marvelous sets of drawings, both arranged on a grid, face each other.  On one side, thirty beautifully detailed ink on paper pieces by Nunelucio Alvarado.  Across it, fifty charcoal works by Jojo Legaspi from his show Phlegm at Hiraya Gallery in 2001 (purchased by Kim for an astounding P150.00 each).  Both make for compelling viewing.  I’ve seen several sets of Jojo’s drawings before yet the pull of these rough, autobiographical sketches never wanes. You can’t peel your eyes from his disturbing images.

Also part of the exhibit, two Santiago Bose mixed media, wall-bound works, more modest in size than I’m used to from Santi, plus  Charlie Co and Wire Tuazon paintings, Julie Lluch’s terracotta cacti, and Jerry Araos’ carved crocodile seesaws.

This show is a must-see.  It allows us a look into one of Manila’s most unique collections, one assembled with a distinct sensibility, while giving us the framework, the beginnings, from which some of today’s most important artists pursued their work.

Also on view at the public areas of The Picasso, Dennis Lagdameo’s spiritual musings, Three Point Entrance.

Kim and Felicia Atienza’s Cabinet of Curiosities and Dennis Lagdameo’s Three Point Entrance run until 1 April 2012 at Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences, 119 Leviste St., Salcedo Village, Makati City.  For more information visit www.facebook.com/artinhouse

The exhibits are a project of Rogue, Art Cabinet Philippines, and Picassso Boutique Serviced Residences and sponsored by the Museum Foundation of the Philippines, Asian Tigers Lane Moving, and IN.C Design Studio

Elmer Borlongan's paintings on the wall, Untitled (Punk Series), 1986 and "Laklak", 1994 with Julie Lluch cacti installation

Elmer Borlongan, Untitled (Punk Series), 1986, oil and acrylic on wood

Elmer Borlongan, Untitled (Punk Series), 1986, oil and acrylic on wood

Early Geraldine Javier paintings

Geraldine Javier, "Final Days", 1996, oil on canvas

Geraldine Javier, "Today's Mortality Rate", 1996, oil on canvas

Alfredo Esquillo Jr., "Nazareno", oil on paper, 2000

Alfredo Esquillo Jr., "Blazing Conductor", oil on paper, 1999

Nunelucio Alvarado drawings, pen and ink on paper

Nunelucio Alvarado drawings

Nunelucio Alvarado drawings

Jose Legaspi, "Phlegm", 2001, ( 50 drawings) charcoal on paper

"Phlegm", detail

"Phlegm", detail

"Phlegm", detail

"Phlegm", detail

Installation view

Alfredo Esquillo Jr's untitled mixed media pieces on wooden bases

Charlie Co, "Triumph Over Evil", 1997, oil on canvas

Santiago Bose, Untitled, mixed media on wood

Santiago Bose, "Untitled", mixed media on canvas, 1980, 1996 over a vitrine illustrating the evolution of the human skull

Wire Tuazon, "Zero", enamel and silver leaf on canvas, 2006

Dennis Lagdameo, "Three Point Entrance", "Rebis" at the lobby

Dennis Lagdameo, "Prima Columna Sui" at the lobby

Dennis Lagdameo, "Absolutionem" at the lobby

Dennis Lagdameo at the hotel mezzanine

Dennis Lagdameo installatin on the hotel's 9th floor

Mandala detail

Dennis Lagdameo installation at the 6th floor

Dennis Lagdameo at the 2nd floor mezzanine

 

 

 

 

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