Rainbow in the dark

MANILA, Philippines - Artist-writer Igan D’Bayan presented his darkest suite of paintings yet in his sixth one-man exhibition titled “Dead Beliefs & Black Vomits,” which was on view at the SM Art Center, fourth floor SM Megamall A, Mandaluyong City.

The Art Center, usually festooned with flower or dated abstracts, glowered with the artist’s Payne’s Gray paintings featuring deranged subjects — Nietzsche as a dog beside Beelzebub in a Nazi uniform, the White Castle Whisky girl transformed into a sideshow freak on a pale horse heralding despair, a pant-less Charles Darwin carrying a green alien baby (with The Origin of Species author cutting an Abraham-like figure, going against religion by founding his own religion), Hitler being fellated by a golem, Marcosian monsters, dogs of realpolitics, and the whole medieval evilness of Martial Law, among others. There was also an installation of skull-spiders. For the two-week exhibit the walls were (inspired by a Stones hippie credo) painted black.   

At the opening of the show, the Black Vomits performed four “abstract-rock” tunes. Before the exhibit ended its run on Aug. 3, several key visitors would turn up. D’Bayan says, “Two of the most influential artists in my life visited the show, Joey de Leon and Manuel Ocampo. Manuel Ocampo wrote on the guestbook, ‘Sick! Sick! Sick!’ Coming from Manuel, that is quite an honor.”

The exhibit was originally titled “Thirteen Pictures To Show What We Have So Far Are Dead Beliefs And Black Vomits.” D’Bayan explains: “My friend Sam Marcleo hit it right on the money when she arrived at the conclusion that the premise of ‘Dead Beliefs’ is that everything (the quest for knowledge, the revelations of art, the desire for human companionship) ends up as sh*t, anyway. Man, no matter all the philosophies his head can dream of, is most likely to end up as a puddle of bile and darkly rotten bits. As a young boy, I saw my father (the strongman in our house, a writer, a soldier) reduced to this gangrenous figure on a hospital bed. That to me — to steal a line from Grant Morrison — was death by symbolism. We the inhabitants of a fleshy, bony body are all prone to corruption and decay. Sickness unto dread and death.”

There is also a series of paintings titled “Everything’s Ruined” composed of small canvases painted with runic symbols. Runes are sticklike characters, scratched onto pebbles and bits of wood, which function as talismans and implements of divination, protecting and guiding those who sought their wisdom.

“After the breakup with my longtime girlfriend, and realizing that all relationships are a sham since — like philosophy and art — love has its own faulty belief system, I tried seeking answers in researching about magick and Aleister Crowley, and came up empty. My runic series — ‘Kenaz,’ ‘Naudhiz,’ ‘Perthro,’ etc. — was lacking one key piece, so I painted ‘Wyrd’ the blank rune. Some answers are beyond reach and must remain forever a mystery. So, basically, these paintings are all about revealing something I do not know.”

Even Crucible owner Sari Ortiga found some of the paintings too subversive for comfort, foreseeing how some people might find the images (inverted crucifixes and such) offensive. “This is a dilemma for a gallery owner and his artist,” Ortiga says. “But good art can not be kept in the dark, though — it explodes.”

D’Bayan concludes, “The artworks explore the failure of History, Politics, Philosophy, Art and Love — shadow on all the things we know, a rain of black puke on everyone’s parade. But, no, I am not a nihilist; I just believe in disbelief.” 

The show was supported by The Philippine STAR, The Crucible Gallery, SM Supermalls and Millie Dizon, Samsung Electronics Philippines and Odette Velarde, Atom Henares and Cris Hermosisima of NU 107, San Miguel Corporation, Nescafe 3-in-1, Ogilvy Public Relations, Boy Vinzon and My Bro’s Mustache, and Roseanne Coscolluela-Villegas of Robinsons.