Tag Archives: Art Informal
Delightfully Weird Images by Tatong Recheta Torres
Until he was 11 years old, Tatong Recheta Torres wished he could be a superhero and fly, take himself off into another realm, transform. Instead life happened, bringing with it all its attendant ordinariness
and routine. Lucky for us, despite the physical impossibility of fulfilling this childhood desire, Tatong- the-now- grown-up- artist wistfully revisits these long-ago longings in his latest exhibit, The Most Genuine Regret, on view at Art Informal in Greenhills.
Tatong’s art has always been about his incursions into a fantastic, alternate world, at once fascinating and
horrifying. He transfixes as much as he makes us recoil, until slowly, we come to accept this parrallel reality. What at first seems like pistules festering on rotting flesh acquire the patina of the commonplace. Decayed matter turn into objects of beauty, leaving us captivated. Tatong sucks us into his universe. And here, enthralled, we choose to stay.
The Most Genuine Regret by Tatong Recheta Torres is at Art Informal from 11 December 2008 to 11 January 2009, 227 Connecticut St., East Greenhills, Mandaluyong City, phone (632)725-8518 or visit http://www.artinformal.com
Meanwhile, back in Manila: Rodel and Marina at West Gallery, Sangviaje at Art Informal
UNCOMMON GROUNDS, RODEL TAPAYA AND MARINA CRUZ GARCIA
After getting married late last year, Rodel Tapaya and Marina Cruz Garcia began 2008 with a solo show each, spent three months in Vermont on residency grants, had a joint homecoming show on their return, secured the Philip Morris Philippine Art Awards Grand Prize and the Ateneo Art Awards for her, a solo show in Singapore for him. That doesn’t even cover everything. How then can they manage to keep their works interesting and keep the art-collector- who’s-seen-it-all interested?
In this exhibit of small works, they show us that by fearlessly stretching the
boundaries of their media, they not only offer refreshing alternatives, they keep us hankering for more. Marina takes off from her winning Philip Morris piece and continues her foray with embroidery on printed canvas to exquisite fruition.
Rodel experiments painting on one side of transparent acrylic sheets, his images meant to be viewed from its reverse side. The idea for this process came about after seeing the amalgam of colors created on the underside of his palette. The result? A contemporary, striking, and altogether novel dimension to his pieces.
Uncommon Grounds, West Gallery Megamall from 13 to 25 November 2008. www.westgallery.org and www.rodeltapaya.com
PUTAJE, SANGVIAJE AT ART INFORMAL
Whenever these guys fron Antipolo journey together, be it a group show in
Singapore, in Malaysia, or here in Manila, it results in an intriguing collection of works, a combination of their various styles and strengths. And this exhibit, at the newly-refurbished Art Informal, is no exception. In fact, Putaje may very well describe how it would be if you were to invite these guys over for dinner: you would sit down to a potluck spread of disparate delicacies that somehow come together into one savory meal.
The Sangviaje artists are: John Paul Antido, Edrick Daniel, Dennis Fortoza, Guerrero Habulan, Joven Mansit, Jaypee Samson.
Putaje is on view at Art Informal from 11 November to 8 December 2008. www.artinformal.com