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By Rome Jorge, Lifestyle Editor
Nothing is more insurgent or more infectious
than pop culture. Logos, slogans, cartoon characters and commercials
seep into our subconscious, invade our dreams, infiltrate our
vocabulary and supplant our necessities and desires. The most
assiduous threats are those that don’t look like ones—cute
things, thing we welcome with open arms and want to hug and to hold.
Hostile Takeover, the ongoing exhibit at White
Box Studio at Stall 59, Cubao Expo, Araneta Center slated until June
18, challenges young artists Polding Sena, Darrel Ballesteros and
Nemo Aguila interpret on canvas exactly what “hostile takeover”
means.
All three honed their artistic sensibilities at
the Far Eastern Air Transport Incorporated (FEATI) University. The
works of these young Turks prove they can take on the best of this
generation.
The exhibit wittily contrasts the ominous name
with friendly cartoonish pop culture images with ominous portents.
Beyond the initial and superficial fascinations with the cutesy
imagery, these three young artists provide disturbing and thought
provoking juxtaposition of elements.
Ballesteros creates a mute and ghostly elfin
world where gravity does not exist. Aguila fashions cartoonish
monsters disturbingly red in the fang. Sena merges deep classical
colors with haze of pop mirages.
These young artists offer a quirky vision of
surrealism, one heavily infused by pop culture imagery as opposed to
other local surrealists such as Ronald Ventura who offer more
serious
and haunting dream visions.
“We define hostility individually in our own
works. We use childish images to heighten the contrast,” explains
Sena. The exhibit as a whole is exciting and energizing. There is an
undeniable synergy among these young peers. All the works were made
expressly for the exhibit.
“There is a similarity in our style. There is
a common denominator,” they reveal. They define their aesthetics:
“I would personally define my work as pop social symbolism.
That’s our common denominator,” says Sena. “For me, it’s pop
surrealism. I’m an 80s kid. I grew up with cartoons,” says
Ballesteros. Aguila reveals, “For me I add the subliminal—hidden
images that pop out in the mind—as well as pop, social and
political images. Sometimes, it’s automatic what my hand draws.”
The three painters list Manuel Ocampo, CJ Tańedo,
Santiago Bose, Bencab and other fellow young artists as influences.
Aguila says, “It’s really are colleagues [who influence us]. I
don’t really bother with who is famous, just whose work I like
that resembles mine.”
Polding Sena, Darrel Ballesteros and Nemo Aguila
are names to watch out for in the future. Their works not only
excite, fascinate and haunt, this exhibit also show much promise of
even greater things to come. They, along with other young hot
artists showcased by White Box Studio, are the future of Philippine
art. Prepare for the takeover.
For details, call 437-3839.
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