INFLEXIONS
When Marcel Duchamp christened a urinal as a work of art, he opened art to a wider field. Some say he liberated art from the precepts of beauty. Others say he opened a can of worms where anything and everything is art, as long as an artist, an art critic, or some other arbiter of taste, says so. With the primacy of concept over form, beauty has lost its popularity among contemporary art aficionados. Many would even deride beautiful paintings as merely decorative. This has not dampened the determination of the artist known as Jemina from pursuing beauty as the subject of her work. Jemina, one of the few contemporary artists with a Master’s Degree in Fine Art, has consistently sought to experience and manifest beauty through her paintings since her first solo exhibition in 1996. Known for her wispy, feathery brush strokes, Jemina works between pure abstraction and impressionism. A remarkable number of her solo exhibitions focused on beauty as it is manifested in flowers, which, to the artist “are a source of inspiration,” for while “they only last a moment, the impression of beauty they leave behind is enduring.” Eminent art critic Cid Reyes once wrote “Jemina explores the lyrical qualities inherent in her flowers, while distilling their abstract essences, beyond the superficialities of realism.”
Jemina’s 20th solo exhibition, “INFLEXIONS,” also focuses on the flower as the expression of her quest for beauty.
Jemina, a theorist, writes of the title: “As a researching artist in relation to my artistic journey, a new terminology was developed to address the internal processes of art production concerning aesthetics that I refer to as inflexive aesthetics. While the idea of beauty keeps changing in the epoch of art history, in my art practice, beauty manifests itself. My love for impressions and abstractions allows me to oscillate between the two genres. It is where intentionality, influence and intuition synergize together in varying degrees, marking a change or a spark in the creative production that leads to an aesthetic outcome. Inflexion is the art process that bridges the gap between concept and style by which the aesthetics is expressed. This exhibit introduces the concept of inflexion and showcases the many manifestations of beauty according to my intentions under current influences brought about by intuitive decisions.” An aesthetic, Jemina is of the belief that beauty is experienced intuitively, and affects a person’s soul. In a way, it is a path to God, the source of all that is beautiful in Creation.
Exhibit opens today and will run until Nov 15 at Galerie Francesca, 4th Level, SM Megamall, EDSA corner Julia Vargas Ave., Mandaluyong, Metro Manila; 570 9495/659 2667; galeriefrancesca. mega@gmail.com