Alvin Zafra shatters the ‘portrait’ in Liberty Modules, a solo exhibition of new works. The show finds him transgressing his brand of realism as he turns to more intuitive configurations and explores ambiguous tensions between geometry and organic gestures. While ‘chance’ and ‘measured accidents’ operate within the central images, Alvin’s works continue to be instilled with the rigor familiar to formalistic practice. He continues to frame death not by giving it a face, but by plotting its indeterminate topology.
Framed in certain formal tropes as with painting, the works settle as diptychs in which the compositions are confined within particular sections that determine their formats. Industrial materials and available objects continue to constitute Alvin’s works as he explores the potential in resources that are commonplace or found. Having worked with sandpaper, he foregoes using this abrasive as a surface from which the image emerges from. Instead, the material enfolds and completes the structural components that circle the dyed elastomeric canvases. The section that stands as the perimeter between the frame and the portraits is sandpaper saturated with friction—here, he employs his customary activity of scraping the material with animal bones.
Liberty Modules explores these boundaries between modules as an ambiguous tension of geometry and organic gestures. As the partitions stand with the latency of permutation amidst programmed but interchangeable standards, so the strange shapes the ‘inevitable’ takes. Alvin Zafra continues to frame death not by giving it a face this time, but by plotting its indeterminate topology.
About the Artist
About the Artists
Alvin Zafra (b. 1978) graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, Major in Painting from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts. He was a transferee from the University of Santo Tomas College of Architecture and Fine Arts, Major in Painting. Alvin Zafra received the best thesis award, Dominador Castañeda Award for Visual Essay, in 2000 for his work entitled “Argument from Nowhere.” In 2015, he won the Thirteen Artists Award from the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Also, he was one of the shortlisted artists for the BMW Art Journey 2016. He has joined group exhibitions shown at ESLITE Gallery in Taipei, Osage Hong Kong and Singapore, Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Zafra also works as Production Designer and Art Director for indie films, music videos, and television.
Related Exhibitions
About the Artists
About the Artist
Alvin Zafra (b. 1978) graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, Major in Painting from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts. He was a transferee from the University of Santo Tomas College of Architecture and Fine Arts, Major in Painting. Alvin Zafra received the best thesis award, Dominador Castañeda Award for Visual Essay, in 2000 for his work entitled “Argument from Nowhere.” In 2015, he won the Thirteen Artists Award from the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Also, he was one of the shortlisted artists for the BMW Art Journey 2016. He has joined group exhibitions shown at ESLITE Gallery in Taipei, Osage Hong Kong and Singapore, Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Zafra also works as Production Designer and Art Director for indie films, music videos, and television.
Related Exhibitions
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