“No Strings On Me”
Every now and then, Cebu’s creative arts sphere comes by shows that underscore the message is the medium mode – exhibits that’re not solely focused on what artists have to say, but are also concerned with the way they say what they have to.
Such a show serves as one of Qube Gallery’s featured exhibitions for the month, one which draws all sights to neo-expressionist-cum-manneristthemed photographs by up-and-coming talents Xadrien Kiener Chang and Christopher Joseph Escario Yu – AKA, Xady and Christoff.
Titled “No Strings On Me” and ongoing at Qube’s space at The Crossroads in Banilad for the duration of the month, the show is part of the gallery’s “Young Artist” series which seeks to introduce promising talents to Cebu’s vibrant and dynamic creative arts clique.
Composed of canvas-printed pieces, the show cuts against the trend of landscape and travel-inclined photography exhibits that’ve recently been picking up in Cebu, as it tempers a neo-expressionist and mannerist flair in the making of avant garde photographic compositions.
Mainly playing with lighting settings and lens aperture manipulation techniques, Xady and Christoff explores the impact of societal norms on individuality in this exhibit.
Working with photography’s ever-fundamental rule of thirds, the exhibiting talents play up photography’s charge to task photographers to tell a story with light – integrating in situ lighting setups and post-processing techniques that make for compelling visuals.
Thematically, the show delves into the idea that life is governed by social mores and laws – a set of codes and mandates that tell us how to live.
From this view, the exhibiting talents scout the ways these laws have an effect on people, largely framing how they can be suffocating and inhibitive whilst being paradoxically liberating. Guidelines and mores, after all, are serviceable societal elements in that they tend to take out the heavy lifting that’s required in making decisions.
To this effect, the show’s thematic score can be taken in two different ways by perceiving “No Strings On Me” either as a declaration or as a wish – either as a social commentary or a yearning for social mores to change.
In a way, the show challenges viewers to take on the two different frames of view towards social norms – to acknowledge if they are restrictive or conforming for them; if whether or not they are directing growth or pushing for growth and direction to go hand-in-hand.