Objects, Paintings, Sculptures
Various Artists
Yasmin Sison, Monica Delgado, Nilo Ilarde, Kawayan de Guia, Christina Quisumbing Ramilo, Carina Santos
Yasmin Sison, Monica Delgado, Nilo Ilarde, Kawayan de Guia, Christina Quisumbing Ramilo, Carina Santos
18 – 21 February 2016
Curated by
18 – 21 February 2016
A table: as furniture, as support, as ground, as field, as an object in itself; for objects laid on top of it be given emphasis, be seen, be vested of consideration for its worth, meaning, and time, time invested in it being looked at, as opposed to the pictorial illusionism of painting as a view inward to an imaginary horizon. A wall may as well serve the same purpose as it cradles the edge of pictures and paintings, affirming their objecthood as shape molds them into the being and essence of their plasticity.
It is surface upon which thingness lends itself to an allegory of forms, of structures, of motives, of specific intentions and readings, of cultural leverage, of historical weight, of ascendancy; of the impulse to create, to make, to procure, to possess, to transcend its thingness and simultaneously be in essence of such; a material for an idea, an idea vested as well in its materiality; a site for the composited gestures of machine and flesh, of readymades and reconstituted artifacts, these archaeological traces of civilizations, monoliths among monoliths in their own metaphorical universes.
Where an object ceases to be mere object just because it is underscored by another: a nondescript plinth that aggrandizes objects as aesthetic ones and isolates them from the realm of (material) function. An object as subject, as verb, as interjection, as metaphor for the thingness of objects. Repetition drives the point or, rather, derives the point of these permutations of variable singularities, confusing the divide between tropes; hence, stacks of pencils for towers, a book turned into a painting, dollhouse things into malleable constructs, and pigment as an epistemology of surface. “Things of beauty that are a joy for the collector,” reified in the realm of social dynamics and power structures. “For something to be perceived at all is to be perceived as part of that situation. Everything counts—not as part of the object, but as part of the situation in which its objecthood is established and on which that objecthood at least partly depends.” (Michael Fried, Art and Objecthood)
Presented herein for MO_Space’s participation in this year’s Art Fair Philippines as evidence, as exemplary positions of such seeming propositions are the works of Yasmin Sison, Monica Delgado, Nilo Ilarde, Kawayan de Guia, Christina Quisumbing Ramilo, and Carina Santos—configured in multiples, in series exploring variables as multiple as the versions of truths and axioms of what art is and can be in a world of constant flux.
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About the Artist
About the Artists
Yasmin Sison (b. 1972) graduated from the University of the Philippines, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities and then in the Fine Arts, Major in Painting. She was a member of the collective Surrounded by Water, and is the recipient of the Cultural Center of the Philippines Thirteen Artists Award (2006). She was also shortlisted for the Ateneo Art Awards (2007).
Sison has shown in both solo and group exhibitions locally and abroad since 1996, in spaces such as West Gallery, Valentine Willie Fine Arts in Malaysia, Artesan Gallery in Singapore, Artinformal, Manila Contemporary, Silverlens Gallery, Blanc Gallery, and the Owen James Gallery in New York, to name a few. She has participated in international group exhibitions in Belgium (2000), Singapore (2002), and Italy (2009).
Monica Delgado (b. 1979, Manila) graduated Cum Laude from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in Painting. She is currently working and residing in New York City. She had an artist residency in New York City, School of Visual Arts Summer Residency in Painting and Mixed Media. Delgado’s works have become part of Andaz Hotel’s (Singapore) and Conrad Hotel’s (Manila) permanent collections. She has exhibited at local and international galleries and museums, and had her first group exhibition in 1998. Delgado has exhibited in Texas, Manila, New York, Singapore, New Jersey, and Istanbul. She has been part of art fairs such as the Art Miami (2018), Governor’s Island Art Fair (2018), Art Stage Singapore (2018), and Art Fair Philippines (2016–2018) to name some.
Nilo Ilarde (b. 1960) is a conceptual artist and curator whose works navigate the intersections between image and word, drawing and writing, and surface and painting. Using both found and constructed objects, he assembles amalgams of image and text that comment on both the formal and conceptual conditions of art and language. He strips and mines his subjects to reveal their history and materiality and in the process creates forms of both declaration and negation.
Ilarde studied Painting at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts. Since the 80s, he has been exhibiting his works and curating exhibitions at various galleries and alternative spaces in Manila, including the Cultural Center of the Philippines, The Pinaglabanan Galleries, Finale Art File, West Gallery, Mag;net, MO_Space, Art Informal, and Underground. His works have also been featured in several international exhibitions and art fairs including solo presentations at Art Basel Hong Kong and Art Stage Singapore, both in 2015 and at Art Fair Philippines in 2018. He is also the co-founder of King Kong Art Projects Unlimited and was one of the lead curators of ‘Chabet: 50 Years’ in various venues in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Manila from 2011–2012.
Kawayan de Guia (b. 1979), son of the well-known local filmmaker and National Artist for Cinema Kidlat Tahimik (Eric de Guia) and German stained-glass artist Katrin de Guia, is a painter, installation and performance artist based in Baguio City, Philippines. He finished his bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines (UP). In 2011, de Guia initiated AX(iS) Art Projects—a biennial gathering of artists from different fields working on the idea of transience, site-specific and community-based works. He is a recipient of the Ateneo Art Awards (2008), the Cultural Center of the Philippines Thirteen Artists Award (2009), and the First New York Arts Project Residency Grant (2008). He has had solo exhibitions in the Philippines, Australia, Japan, China, and Germany, in spaces such as the Vargas Musuem at UP, the Soka Art Center in Beijing, ARNDT Singapore, Rossi & Rossi Ltd. in London, The Luggage Store in San Francisco, California, The Drawing Room, Singapore Art Museum, the Lopez Memorial Museum, Ateneo Art Gallery, Artinformal, and MCAD Manila. He was also one of the curators for the Singapore Biennale in 2013. De Guia has participated at the Art Fair Philippines and the recent Manila Biennale.
Christina Quisumbing Ramilo (b. 1961) examines and reimagines objects and their contexts through comprehension of material and site specificity. Her artistic practice involves an interest in and respect for the life and history of objects. With minimal intervention on their surfaces, she arranges them or reconfigures their parts, presenting other perspectives to their forms and functions. Often using unconventional materials (construction discards, architectural fragments, casts, recycled paper), and utilizing objects themselves as material (mirrors, bottles, old frames, clothing), most of which have been collected for years, she constructs the works in parts over long periods of time, never completely finished. Conferred with titles that employ wit and humor, they ultimately express her personal poetries.
Ramilo lives and works in the Philippines as a full-time artist and curator.
Carina Santos (b. 1988, Manila) is an artist, writer, and designer. She finished her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts in Information Design from Ateneo de Manila University in 2010. She also finished her Master of Research on Art in Theory & Philosophy at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London in 2019. Santos has written numerous articles and contributions for local / international media such as Rogue Magazine, Esquire Philippines, CNN Philippines Life, The Philippine Star, and Warner Music Philippines.
As an artist, Santos had solo and group exhibitions since 2009 at West Gallery, Secret Fresh Gallery, Lightbombs Contemporary (Hong Kong), Silverlens Galleries, Finale Art File, and Blanc Gallery to name a few. She has also participated at the Art Fair Philippines.
Related Exhibitions
About the Artists
About the Artist
Yasmin Sison (b. 1972) graduated from the University of the Philippines, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities and then in the Fine Arts, Major in Painting. She was a member of the collective Surrounded by Water, and is the recipient of the Cultural Center of the Philippines Thirteen Artists Award (2006). She was also shortlisted for the Ateneo Art Awards (2007).
Sison has shown in both solo and group exhibitions locally and abroad since 1996, in spaces such as West Gallery, Valentine Willie Fine Arts in Malaysia, Artesan Gallery in Singapore, Artinformal, Manila Contemporary, Silverlens Gallery, Blanc Gallery, and the Owen James Gallery in New York, to name a few. She has participated in international group exhibitions in Belgium (2000), Singapore (2002), and Italy (2009).
Monica Delgado (b. 1979, Manila) graduated Cum Laude from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in Painting. She is currently working and residing in New York City. She had an artist residency in New York City, School of Visual Arts Summer Residency in Painting and Mixed Media. Delgado’s works have become part of Andaz Hotel’s (Singapore) and Conrad Hotel’s (Manila) permanent collections. She has exhibited at local and international galleries and museums, and had her first group exhibition in 1998. Delgado has exhibited in Texas, Manila, New York, Singapore, New Jersey, and Istanbul. She has been part of art fairs such as the Art Miami (2018), Governor’s Island Art Fair (2018), Art Stage Singapore (2018), and Art Fair Philippines (2016–2018) to name some.
Nilo Ilarde (b. 1960) is a conceptual artist and curator whose works navigate the intersections between image and word, drawing and writing, and surface and painting. Using both found and constructed objects, he assembles amalgams of image and text that comment on both the formal and conceptual conditions of art and language. He strips and mines his subjects to reveal their history and materiality and in the process creates forms of both declaration and negation.
Ilarde studied Painting at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts. Since the 80s, he has been exhibiting his works and curating exhibitions at various galleries and alternative spaces in Manila, including the Cultural Center of the Philippines, The Pinaglabanan Galleries, Finale Art File, West Gallery, Mag;net, MO_Space, Art Informal, and Underground. His works have also been featured in several international exhibitions and art fairs including solo presentations at Art Basel Hong Kong and Art Stage Singapore, both in 2015 and at Art Fair Philippines in 2018. He is also the co-founder of King Kong Art Projects Unlimited and was one of the lead curators of ‘Chabet: 50 Years’ in various venues in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Manila from 2011–2012.
Kawayan de Guia (b. 1979), son of the well-known local filmmaker and National Artist for Cinema Kidlat Tahimik (Eric de Guia) and German stained-glass artist Katrin de Guia, is a painter, installation and performance artist based in Baguio City, Philippines. He finished his bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines (UP). In 2011, de Guia initiated AX(iS) Art Projects—a biennial gathering of artists from different fields working on the idea of transience, site-specific and community-based works. He is a recipient of the Ateneo Art Awards (2008), the Cultural Center of the Philippines Thirteen Artists Award (2009), and the First New York Arts Project Residency Grant (2008). He has had solo exhibitions in the Philippines, Australia, Japan, China, and Germany, in spaces such as the Vargas Musuem at UP, the Soka Art Center in Beijing, ARNDT Singapore, Rossi & Rossi Ltd. in London, The Luggage Store in San Francisco, California, The Drawing Room, Singapore Art Museum, the Lopez Memorial Museum, Ateneo Art Gallery, Artinformal, and MCAD Manila. He was also one of the curators for the Singapore Biennale in 2013. De Guia has participated at the Art Fair Philippines and the recent Manila Biennale.
Christina Quisumbing Ramilo (b. 1961) examines and reimagines objects and their contexts through comprehension of material and site specificity. Her artistic practice involves an interest in and respect for the life and history of objects. With minimal intervention on their surfaces, she arranges them or reconfigures their parts, presenting other perspectives to their forms and functions. Often using unconventional materials (construction discards, architectural fragments, casts, recycled paper), and utilizing objects themselves as material (mirrors, bottles, old frames, clothing), most of which have been collected for years, she constructs the works in parts over long periods of time, never completely finished. Conferred with titles that employ wit and humor, they ultimately express her personal poetries.
Ramilo lives and works in the Philippines as a full-time artist and curator.
Carina Santos (b. 1988, Manila) is an artist, writer, and designer. She finished her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts in Information Design from Ateneo de Manila University in 2010. She also finished her Master of Research on Art in Theory & Philosophy at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London in 2019. Santos has written numerous articles and contributions for local / international media such as Rogue Magazine, Esquire Philippines, CNN Philippines Life, The Philippine Star, and Warner Music Philippines.
As an artist, Santos had solo and group exhibitions since 2009 at West Gallery, Secret Fresh Gallery, Lightbombs Contemporary (Hong Kong), Silverlens Galleries, Finale Art File, and Blanc Gallery to name a few. She has also participated at the Art Fair Philippines.
Related Exhibitions
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