Aliens, phantom pianos and the ghosts of protests past
MANILA, Philippines - The next wave has arrived and it comes in a multi-sensory onslaught of sound, vision, even smell. The three winners of the 2009 Ateneo Art Awards are artists who continue to push the boundaries of defining what art is and saying what it should do, in very different ways. Patty Eustaquio for “Death to the Major Viva Minor”, Kiri Dalena for “Keeping the Faith”, and Jan Leeroy New for “Terratoma II, War of the Worlds” were named out of 12 shortlisted young artists and will get to travel abroad on grants to New York, Indonesia and Australia.
Patty Eustaquio is familiar to YStyle readers as a fashion designer, but was originally an artist and returned full force with a memorable exhibit last October, the first artist to be featured when SLab opened at the Silverlens Gallery. Putting the idea of craft materials in the framework of art, she created a sculpted ceramic violin exposed to reveal its throbbing arteries and still-life paintings on shaped canvases. Her Psychogenic Fugue in particular struck a ghostly chord in viewers, casting the shape of a forgotten old piano by draping a blanket of crocheted lace over thin air, molded only by Epoxy.
Kiri Dalena’s installation involves video and sound and draws upon images from the First Quarter Storm protest, altering them by erasing the slogans. Decontextualized, the action of protest resonates with audiences who have no memory of the original but have inherited its spirit, kept alive in the new and old forms of protest and civil unrest we participate in today.
Jan Leeroy New’s sculptures are intergalactic aliens taking over the world, transforming sci-fi mythology into the here and now, welcoming us Earthlings into our own land, with our buildings, icons and landscapes made eerie and hyperreal.
Pieces from all 12 artists’ exhibits will be on view at the Ateneo Art Gallery at Ateneo University, Katipunan Avenue, form Aug 26 to Sept 19.
