Cosmetic Order at MO Space

Exhibit installation view

Three colleagues come together for Cosmetic Order, the exhibit now running at MO Space. To quote from the wall notes, this show “…takes from the artists’ fairly recent entanglements with superficiality.”

Claro Ramirez and Oscar Floirendo react to the recent controversy involving the work of fellow artist, Mideo Cruz. His piece for Kulô,an exhibit at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, had caused the closing of the entire show. It earned the ire of Catholic groups due to the supposedly blasphemous elements incorporated in his installation. They took particular offense at a pair of Mickey Mouse ears on a figure of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Oca has installed several mirrors shaped like the Disney mouse on the walls of the gallery to recall this act of censorship. Chitz’s video of Mideo packing up his piece plays continuously inside the project room.

It is Chitz’s papier-mache car, mounted prominently in the middle of the gallery, that draws most of the viewer’s attention. Cars are considered arbiters of social and economic status, a superficial gauge of their owners’ worth. At first glance, this one seems nondescript, in dire need of repair; its tires have even been used to prop it up. After it has been serviced, however, it will posses a souped up engine. Its humble body will give no inkling of its true power.

Both Chitz and Oca have other wall-bound works scattered throughout the gallery. They are all constructed using mirrors, the means by which we examine appearances.

The third artist in the group, Eric Zamuco, does not live in Manila. Based in Massachusetts, his pieces deal with the issues he faces as a stay at home dad, one transplanted into alien territory: he transformed dust gathered from the vacuum cleaner into kinetic sculpture, arranged leather jackets collected from a charity to form a sofa, and chose to give a breast pump pride of place, displaying it as a precious object on top of its own pillow.

I admit I had a difficult time grasping the artists’ intentions, and how all their works fit together. I enjoyed the show because of how the pieces looked. Quite apt then that a show that ponders superficiality made an impact because of the initial impression it conveyed.

Cosmetic Order runs from 22 October to 20 November 2011 at MO Space, 3^rd Level, MOs Design Building, Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Phone (632) 856-2748 or visit http://www.mo-space.net