There’s a quarter century of tradition behind Dynasty Court’s...
2010-03-23
Mike Baños
Entertainment
Method and Madness : You are born modern, you do not become so
By The Night Stalker
That’s what artists Kelly Palaganas
and Meling Abuga-a call their latest exhibit now moved to the Museum of Three
Cultures at Capitol University from its initial month-long run at the Tourism
Showhouse in Plaza Divisoria.
“You are born modern, you do not
become so” is a quote from French sociologist and cultural thinker Jean
Baudrillard.
“It was all random. We were each
playing around with ideas for a title,” Kelly admits. “Na come across ni nako nga
quote from my art prof Roberto Chabet, who always sends me cool quotes thru
text. Akoang gi forward kang Meling..nag suggest ko nga
"Born Modern" ang show. Ingon dayon siya nga why not the whole
quote na lang, so there...”
“This, for me is very relevant to
the concerns of local artists nowadays. If you talk to them in a group, pirmi
lang na mogawas ang "what is contemporary art?" nga question. Mura
lang ni ug dula namo ang quote ni Baudrillard. “We weren’t trying to be
high art or anything.”
Meling Abuga-a and friends at the Tourism Showhouse Exhibit.
Modern art usually refers to
artistic works produced during the period from the 1860s-1970s, and denotes the
style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. It is usually
associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside
in a spirit of experimentation. Modern artists experimented
with new ways of seeing and with fresh ideas about the nature of materials and
functions of art. More recent artistic production is often called Contemporary art or Postmodern art.
Current interpretations of modernism
vary. Some divide 20th century reaction into modernism and postmodernism, whereas others see them as two
aspects of the same movement. This divide could also very well describe the two
artists’ approaches to “modern art” in this particular exhibit.
Says Meling in the exhibit handout:
“I like the idea of making things look brighter than what they are in a
heartbreaking way. Constantly experimenting, trying to figure out what art, the
process, and creation really means. The act of doing, merely doing, rather than
conceptualizing then submitting to final decision that it is a good thing when
it does not make any sense is the theme and timbre of my art.”
Thus, you have her “Boxes of Hope”
consisting of mixed media made from enamel, matchboxes, oil and latex paints on
board;
"Turn, Turn, Turn” oil on canvass (inspired by the 60s pop hit
"Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There is a Season)", a song
adapted entirely from the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible and put
to music by Pete Seeger in 1959;
and “Hibiscus” (enamel,
tie wire, latex on board) which describes a plant’s struggle for life as
illustrated by the wire flower seemingly rising violently from the board.
Nonoy Estarte, resident artist of
Xavier University and president of the Oro Art Guild concurs with some fellow
artists’ assessment of Meling’s works today as those of an 'emerging artist'. “Unlike
Kelly’s works which many already consider as polished and with a certain
distinct style, Meling is still experimenting with how she can best express herself
hence her adventurism in techniques, color and materials. The passion for
expression and creativity are there, it’s more like she’s looking for her
artistic identity at this point in time.”
For her part, Kelly has focused on “nature,
color, stains, flowers, petals, tea leaves, coffee, unconventional and yet
practical native (indigenous? home grown?) and yet inherently modern…to take a
walk around the nearby places, the fields and roadsides, and to come home with
your pockets full of many colored flowers, picked fresh and all prepared to
dance upon the paper…plumbagos leaves make green to fade and settle on a shade
they fancy…”
Four works by Kelly Ramos-Palaganas.
Fellow artist Patrick Gabutina
likens Kelly’s works to those of Lucian Freud’s impasto portraits and
nudes which have made many regard him as the greatest figurative painter of our
time.
"I don't want any color to be
noticeable... I don't want it to operate in the modernist sense as color,
something independent... Full, saturated colors have an emotional significance
I want to avoid."
Now that, is exactly opposite of
what Patrick likes in Kelly’s works, which are “her vivid colors which convey
her emotion in an aggressive manner.”
However, Kelly herself says her
latest series of experimentations with natural colors made from plant leaves
and flowers are closer to what Freud says he desires of colors in his works.
Kelly and friend take a break at the Tourism Showhouse Exhibit.
“I am constantly surprised at the
colors I have discovered which are many times not the colors you see in the
original leaves and blossoms,” she mused. “I still do the oil painting, sure, sabay ani nga series, and they are
impastos, yes. And I love Lucian Freud as well, and although I do NOT try to
copy him, I concede that yup there is a certain similarity in the brushwork or
the "style." But... these works on show can be seen as a totally
different path in terms of style from
my oils. It is more a progression of my concerns from the ballpen sketches that
won me a finalist award from the Philippine Art Award.
You
can see more of Kelly’s art from the following links:
Indeed, a consequence perhaps closer
her colleagues experimentations than what the artist intended. But does that
make her or Meling any less modern? Learned or embedded with the art gene?
Ultimately, like all works of art which matter, that would be something left
for the beholder to find out himself.
