Incredible Pleasure from Juan Alcazaren, Eugene Jarque, Geraldine Javier, Mike Munoz, Mac Valdezco, and Ryan Villamael

Mac Valdezco, "Orange 524.558", detail

I know how obsessive Geraldine Javier gets about quality and workmanship.  So it hardly comes as a surprise to see whom she invited to join her for her first go at curating an exhibit.  Juan Alcazaren, Mac Valdezco, Eugene Jarque, Mike Munoz, and Ryan Villamael all share her reputation for fastidiousness, for fabricating pieces with careful attention to detail.

This show presented exercises in working with textiles.  A survey of the pieces on view confirm the exhibit notes’ assertion that Incidental Pleasure, the exhibit’s title, refers to the satisfaction these artists derive from putting together well-made and finely crafted pieces. They should all rightly take bows for the work they put in for this show.  While each piece stands out, they also work well when viewed together.

Mac Valdezco, as always, delivered a winner.  Her Orange 524.558 demonstrates yet again how ordinary materials come alive in her hands.  Cords and cord pulls, assembled with glue, come together as a climbing parasitic plant, easily the show’s standout.  Across it, up on the gallery’s long wall, the word CHINA has been spelled out in suede-covered letters embellished with chrome metal discs, screws, and washers.  Johnny Alcazaren calls this Protect Me From What I Want To Eat.  A dig at the suspect components that make it into food processed in China?

Eugene Jarque’s polymorph took over one wall, a pattern he put together from strips of Velcro. Geraldine covered animal skulls and elaborate branches in crocheted thread and tatting to illustrate Another Life Of A Tree 1 and 2.  The wall closest to the entrance has been devoted to Ryan Villamael’s Stellar, framed paper pieces sourced from magazine photos of the solar system, cut by hand into intricate filigreed forms.  Beside them, his Big Bang, from layers of cut felt, dominated and dwarfed the four Stellar pieces.

Mike Muñoz occupied MO’s Project Room with an altar of sorts. All his recent paintings have been reworked religious images.  Tota Pulchra Es Maria combines an appropriated one of Mary with cloth woven from the Cordilleras. The bolt of fabric, handwoven and hand dyed, is a celebration of a skill proudly passed down through generations.

Half a dozen exhibits opened at the same time this weekend.  Because of a previous commitment, I only had time to make it to one.  I’m glad my choice did not disappoint.  Incidental Pleasure served up incredible pleasure.

Incidental Pleasure runs from 26 May to 24 June 2012 at MO Space, 3F MO Design Bldg., Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.  Phone (632) 856-2715 or visit www.mo-space.net

Installation view, at foreground, Mac Valdezco, "Orange 524.558", at back, Eugene Jarque, "Feeder"

Mac Valdezco, "Orange 524.558"

Eugene Jarque, "Feeder"

Detail

Geraldine Javier, "Another Life Of A Tree 2"

Geraldine Javier, "Another Life Of A Tree 1"

Juan Alcazaren, "Protect Me From What I Want To Eat"

Detail

Installation view, at back, Ryan Villamael, "Stellar" series and "Big Bang"

Eugene Jarque, Ryan Villamael, and Mac Valdezco

Ryan Villamael, "Stellar" series

Ryan Villamael, "Stellar" series

Ryan Villamael, "Stellar" series

Ryan Villamael, "Stellar" series

Mike Munoz, "Tota Pulchra Es Maria" and, on the floor, "Kinutayan", cloth woven in the Cordilleras

 

 

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