Connecting Gaps
Studio 1616 artists Kiko Urquiola and Gian Miroe recently presented their works in a two-man show called Connecting Gaps at Art Verite in Taguig City.
The exhibition became sort of a fateful reunion of two friends and an opportunity for them to catch up, with stories painted as images on canvas. Their works show the everyday lives of the artists in their individual studios (Miroe is in Pasay, while Urquiola is in Bulacan).
Miroe presented realistic paintings of his studio and dark-skinned characters that emphasized contrast, or a sense of divide. Urquiola presented a series of realistic paintings that showed four tableaux of objects connoting four aspects of his art making — carpentry, stretching and priming canvas, and painting. He threw in the surreal in Impermanence 1-4 where he depicted moments during his free time, like watching TV, with his dog, or with coffee or his phone.
Kiko Urquiola studied Fine Arts, Major in Advertising at the Technological University of the Philippines in 2015. He has participated in many exhibitions in venues like the UP Vargas Museum and Pinto Art Museum, Boston Gallery and SecretFresh Gallery. His works were noted in art competitions like Philippine National Oil Company Calendar Competition in 2013 and Metrobank Art and Design Excellence 2017. In 2015, he won third prize at the UST Annual Interschool On-the-spot Painting Competition and was a finalist at the 2013 National Shell Art Competition.
Gian Miroe also received his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, Major in Advertising from the Technological University of the Philippines in 2015. He was a finalist at the 2015 National Shell Art Competition and his works have received attention in competitions like the Philippine National Oil Company Calendar Competition in 2013, UST Annual Interschool On-the-spot Painting Competition in 2015 and Metrobank Art and Design Excellence 2015. He also joined in numerous group exhibitions in galleries such as Art Cube Gallery and West Gallery, and museums like UP Vargas Museum and Pinto Art Museum.