Pardo de Leon’s latest solo exhibition of new paintings entitled Small Fictions takes a close look at often unnoticed details and objects from nature and everyday life. Known for her distinctive style of painting marked by a ‘sense of line, gesture, and touch,’ de Leon’s new works lure viewers into a terrene that is simultaneously mundane and esoteric.
Composed of three sets of works, the exhibition includes a suite of large paintings of lichen growing on the barks of trees, an arrangement of various strange flowers chosen for their sculptural quality, and a collection of small paintings of ordinary fishing hooks. Varying in sizes but sharing the same autumnal palette of mostly green, orange, yellow, ochre, and brown, the paintings impart a quality that is both ethereal and earthbound. Not unlike the terse pairing of words in a haiku, the trinity of seemingly unrelated subjects of de Leon’s paintings forms sudden connections and revelations about temporal states and the passing of time. It necessitates a kind of viewing, which regards the subjects not as singular, disparate images but one, which probes their immediacies and convergences.
Belonging to a generation of painters whose works are mainly based on found photographic imagery, de Leon approaches painting both intuitively and methodically. Working adeptly in both abstraction and figuration, she confronts conventions in painting through the juxtaposition of images, the layering of different forms and motifs, or by zooming in on particular aspects and details of the subject. In the process, she purposefully creates spaces for ambiguity and mixed readings rather than carving definite meanings and exact statements. In Small Fictions, de Leon’s subjects stand in for words beyond language while intimating excerpts from the artist’s personal ecology.
About the Artist
About the Artists
Pardo de Leon’s paintings are reminiscent of the style of the old European Masters, and she is known for her distinctive style of painting marked by a ‘sense of line, gesture, and touch.’ Belonging to a generation of painters whose works are mainly based on found photographic imagery, de Leon approaches painting both intuitively and methodically. Working adeptly in both abstraction and figuration, she confronts conventions in painting through the juxtaposition of images, the layering of different forms and motifs, or by zooming in on particular aspects and details of the subject.
Pardo de Leon graduated with a degree in Painting from the UP College of Fine Arts in 1987. She was a recipient of the CCP Thirteen Artists Award in 1988. She also received a studio residency grant from the Italian-Swedish Cultural Foundation in Venice, Italy in 1999, which was awarded the best show of the year by the state council. De Leon has had numerous solo and group exhibitions at various galleries and museums including the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Finale Art File, MO_Space, Blanc Gallery, Manila Contemporary, Valentine Willie Fine Art, and the Institute of Contemporary Art – La Salle College of the Arts. She currently lives and works in Baguio City.
Related Exhibitions
About the Artists
About the Artist
Pardo de Leon’s paintings are reminiscent of the style of the old European Masters, and she is known for her distinctive style of painting marked by a ‘sense of line, gesture, and touch.’ Belonging to a generation of painters whose works are mainly based on found photographic imagery, de Leon approaches painting both intuitively and methodically. Working adeptly in both abstraction and figuration, she confronts conventions in painting through the juxtaposition of images, the layering of different forms and motifs, or by zooming in on particular aspects and details of the subject.
Pardo de Leon graduated with a degree in Painting from the UP College of Fine Arts in 1987. She was a recipient of the CCP Thirteen Artists Award in 1988. She also received a studio residency grant from the Italian-Swedish Cultural Foundation in Venice, Italy in 1999, which was awarded the best show of the year by the state council. De Leon has had numerous solo and group exhibitions at various galleries and museums including the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Finale Art File, MO_Space, Blanc Gallery, Manila Contemporary, Valentine Willie Fine Art, and the Institute of Contemporary Art – La Salle College of the Arts. She currently lives and works in Baguio City.
Related Exhibitions
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