Evolution is never static. In Philippine Art, it is expressed in various forms that are the product of the “intermingling forces” of history, culture, artistic influences from within and without, individual artistry, and the market. As the sociologist Emile Durkheim has expressed, “each generation is reared by its predecessor; the latter must therefore improve in order to improve its successor.” Like a spiral, things go seemingly in a circle, but seen from the lens of history, it circles always forward. Such is the case of the first public exhibition of OpenArt Gallery’s exhibition at ArtistSpace where the selection of works by Amador Barquilla, Ann Baldemor-Moneda, Amiel Cagayat, Jonathan Dangue, Francis Nacion, Almer Moneda, Carlo Ongchangco, and Melissa Yeung Yap reflect what resonates with Philippine culture, like those who have before them, but with their individual artistic predilections.

 

Like the bucolic genre of the grand master of Philippine Art, Fernando Amorsolo, the works of Amador Barquilla, Amiel Cagayat, Francis Nacion, Almer Moneda and Carlo Ongchangco echo strains of peaceful bounty and the joys of the simple life. Their approach is tempered by nostalgia, as with the case of Barquilla, Baldemor, Cagayat, Nacion, and Moneda, or by youthful fantasy such as in the works of Ongchangco. Their works reflect various and more recent aesthetic influences that they have devoted their time delving into, like the works of Bencab, Malang, Van Gogh, even Murakami; creating contemporary expressions of the Philippine Genre.

 

Showing influences of international Abstract Expressionism alongside those of the local, Ann Baldemor – Moneda , Melissa Yeung Yap, and Jonathan Dangue create more subjective abstracts that still resonate with Philippine culture. Baldemor Moneda’s foliar abstractions echo the influences of Malang and Kiukok. While Yeung Yap’s use t’boli textiles for her foliar works as a way to connect to and support local indigenous culture and Philippine artisanal traditions. Dangue’s angular abstractions meanwhile continue the spiral that Abueva, Saprid, and Castrillo likewise belong to.

 

“Intermingling Forces” represent segments of Philippine Art in the spiralic loop of the contemporary: one with resonates with the past, integrates the present, and marches on to the future in resonance with truly Philippine values of peace, generosity, joy, and harmony. Together, these artists represent effective strains of what Filipinos value, as well as how these constants which define our culture are expressed at this time.