Sight Unseen

Cris Mora

29 September – 28 October 2018

Curated by 

29 September – 28 October 2018
Sight Unseen: Cris Mora | MO_Space

I think one of the privileges of being a friend of the artist is seeing their art in progress. I’ve had the opportunity to see a lot of Cris’ new works as he was making them in the last year or so. As Cris continued to show me his art and the more we talked about his work, the topics and themes he wanted to tackle and his identity as a Filipino-Canadian artist, the more I realized that his perspective resembles my own.

Returning to the Philippines as a Filipino-American, I have often felt myself on the outside looking in, a position that Cris and I have discussed about ad nauseam. As hyphenated identities, born in one country and raised in another, I think we sometimes feel distanced from our countries and cultures. This is why I think his art and his practice is one of keen observation, filtered through his hyphenated identity as a Filipino-Canadian.

He documents, provides facts and information without judgement, but never proselytizes. Cris’ art uncovers the scale of power structures that underpin current political, economic, and social issues here and around the world. Cris’ art in Sight Unseen references dynastic politics, state-sponsored violence, climate change, and China’s continuing land reclamation in the South China Sea. And all around the world, we watch the rise of strongman politicians, violent extremism, fascism and propaganda, the rejection of science, and the vilification of the marginalized and displaced.

I have tried to keep up only to feel my chest tightening and my mind reeling. What have we dismissed because we ourselves are mired in the middle of it all—a relentless news cycle that hollows us out. We are knee-deep in rising waters and sometimes I feel like we have all but resigned to feeling powerless.

The topics and themes Cris deals with are heavy, and being confronted at the sheer scale of it all is daunting. But finding his works allow me to pause and see things from another place. There is a poetic logic to Cris’ art, to the process he has developed, the gathering and arrangement of the raw information. It is a documentation and census of who and what has been forgotten.

The Japanese artist Yasumasa Morimura says “I try to engage viewers in a dialogue. I think good works create an impetus for reflection.” This impetus is the act required when looking at Cris’ work, to survey the information and uncover the tenuous relationship between what is hidden from view and revealed only upon reflection.

–Marc Chavez

Exhibition Documentation

Works

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Collection of the Artist

  • 2,088 E’s in Pasig
    Lambda print
    42.13" x 66"
    2018
  • Kill List
    Inkjet on tracing paper and blueprint
    24" x 36" each
    2017
  • Kill List (detail)
    Inkjet on tracing paper and blueprint
    24" x 36" each
    2017
  • 50 Disputed Islands in the South China Sea
    Archival inkjet print
    26.5" x 15.8"
    2017
  • 24 na mga Bagyong dumaan sa Pilipinas
    GIFs
    2018
  • Portraits of Stella with Ventolin Nebules  and 197ML of Metro Manila Air
    C-print, Ventolin Nebules, glass jar
    Variable dimensions; 13" x 18" each (frame)
    2018
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Exhibition View

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Video Catalogue

About the Artist

About the Artists

Cris Mora

Artist portrait courtesy of Art Provenance
Cris Mora

Cris Mora is a Filipino-Canadian artist and cultural worker.  He was born in Manila in 1984 and moved to Toronto at the age of four. Mora studied painting, drawing, printmaking, and photography at the University of Western Ontario in Canada.  In addition to his art practice, Mora is also an experienced cultural worker.  He has worked as a registrar for Newzones Gallery, a commercial gallery in Canada; the exhibition designer for the Singapore Tyler Print Institute; and as an estimator for Momart, a London based Art-Logistics Company.  Mora has exhibited in Canada, Singapore, and the Philippines. He currently lives and works in Manila.


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About the Artists

About the Artist

Cris Mora is a Filipino-Canadian artist and cultural worker.  He was born in Manila in 1984 and moved to Toronto at the age of four. Mora studied painting, drawing, printmaking, and photography at the University of Western Ontario in Canada.  In addition to his art practice, Mora is also an experienced cultural worker.  He has worked as a registrar for Newzones Gallery, a commercial gallery in Canada; the exhibition designer for the Singapore Tyler Print Institute; and as an estimator for Momart, a London based Art-Logistics Company.  Mora has exhibited in Canada, Singapore, and the Philippines. He currently lives and works in Manila.


Cris Mora

Artist portrait courtesy of Art Provenance
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