Chronicles of Pain Colored

CHARLIE CO | BOBIT SEGISMUNDO | JUSTO CASCANTE III | ARNEL S. AGAWIN

06/06 - 06/24/2008 Opening Reception : 06/06/2008 . 6:30pm

osage soho 45 Caine Road Lower Ground Shop 1 Corner Old Bailey Street Soho,Central,Hong Kong Mon - Sat: 10:30 am - 7:30 pm Sun & Public Holiday: 12:00 noon - 5:00 pm Tel: 852 25370688 email: info@osagegallery.com web: www.osagegallery.com

The four Filipino artists selected for this show have a lot in common - they are not so young, they are all willingly domesticated, and they all come from a culture known for its passion for discourse and music. In their work they have a penchant for visual narratives, expressive symbolism and mystical drama. They are politicized, not just in terms of national issues but also in the ways they deal with personal relationships and all that they entail - distress, betrayal, loss, frustration, exhaustion and pain. For many artists, pain is such a constant theme that it forms and moulds the artist into being the person that he or she is. The invocation of pain, subdued yet visible through the process of overlaying images and colours, is very evident in each of these four artists’ work. These works do not preach but attempt to chronicle personal past experience, pleasant or grim, and transfer it from the deep recesses of the mind to the canvas.

Justo Cascante III gives the human form expression through characters drawn in a comic or surreal manner. The style that he developed during his arts school days has been rened through working for a number of years with major players in Hong Kong’s film and design production industries. His anthropomorphic creations are playful and engaging. His large format canvases and mysterious gures may well be a reaction of his sense of self - larger and more mischievous.

Bobit Segismundo addresses deeply personal issues in his work. His work and its content is dark. His dark figures on monochrome grounds and carefully scribbled transliterations of his most intimate torments convey a sense of foreboding and gloom. They may be expressing some kind of warning for you to keep your distance or alternatively may be a plea for your empathy. They seize your attention as if you were standing next to a man atop a building, at the edge, ready to jump.

Arnel S. Agawin is an archetypal product of his generation - awakened 60s, mind-stretched '70s, anarchic-cynical 80s and refuse-to-grow-up 90s. The art in his work appears as a form of distillation of the process of creating it. What is seen is a vestigial trace of that wonderful experience. There is always a semblance of truth which is proportionate to intent but also the lies that lead to it. Every work he creates is a sincere attempt to define his true measure.

Charlie Co was one of the founders of an artistic movement that became known for its politically and socially committed art during the years of the Marcos administration. His work continues to address important socio-political issues and more autobiographical concerns. On the surface his allegories appear colourful and festive, but in truth they continue to strike at the heart of social ills.

Times change, and with them do us all. For these artists, change gives rise to clear and present realities.

Related pages:

"Unang Sulyap" - Group show.

"Estilo" - Group show.