In the heart of art
The cur rent exhibit in Jul ian Ongpin’s JOYA ( Julian Ongpin Young Artists) Gallery features three Filipino artists coming from different backgrounds and styles — but the one thing they have in common is the same emotional depth and insight in applying their art and narratives.
Dubbed At the Heart of It, the three- man group exhibit, which r uns unt il today, features Arnel
Agawin, Brisa Amir and Michael Rahman Declarin — all of whom try to make sense of a chaotic world as they pursue peace.
The Hong Kong- based Agawin from the UP College of Fine Arts is a pioneer mixed- media artist whose featured works tackle the themes of nuclear unrest, geopolitical instability and corruption as well as peace and harmony through imagined landscapes. Amir, on the other hand, uses mostly collage and monoprint techniques and creates an in- depth look into the transcendent areas of conf lict in her recurrent series
All Dust Becomes Eternal. Meanwhile, Declarin is a muralist and street artist who brings together developed approaches towards placement and exposure as well as composition and texture with his featured series Bagyo.
“Even in the face of incredible spite, one must have a way to take the bat tle to oneself without terminating one’s very existence. At the Heart of
It is a testament to what is our nature and artistic capacity to positively and wholly transform the world around us from within; even in the midst of personal and impersonal unrelenting tyranny,” so goes the exhibit notes.
Only the second exhibit since Julian opened his gallery ( located at the second floor of Alphaland Makati Place Mall) with an exhibit titled Frontiers in October last year, JOYA provides a venue for showcasing the works of emerging international and local artists.