With the advent of Modern Art, particularly with the rise and stay of Abstraction, artists have resorted to using a bigger canvas to express themselves with, and as a result, engulf the viewer by the sheer scale of the project.
With walls that could accommodate oversized works, Art Lounge Manila presents “Monumental Abstracts” by Anna de Leon, Francis Nacion Jr., Louie Ignacio, Jonathan Dangue, Ricky Francisco, Melissa Yeung Yap & 0270501. Using canvases with one side more than 10 feet (most using 16 feet), this project has been born out of the thrill of creating something memorable and impactful, like an explosion of pent up energies from being so cooped up in their respective homes for so long.
Anna de Leon garnered an honorable mention in the GSIS 2010 competition for abstraction but has since focused on figuration and is known for her pastel paintings of flowers and birds. Anna de Leon has been the president of the Saturday Group of Artists, and her paintings and sculptures are in many important private and institutional collections.
Creating his oversized work while listening to Handel’s Messiah (the Hallelujah chorus in particular), is film and T.V. director Louie Ignacio, who found emotional release through the frenetic splashes and drips he did to create the work.
Balancing planned order and intuitive discovery is the work of Jonathan Dangue, whose technique is a synergy of painterly drips done with both planning and intuition.
Also integrating intuition into his sunset-inspired work is Ricky Francisco, who has taken to painting recently after more than two decades of museum work and a decade of curatorial work. His fascination for light has allowed him to explore both bright color and light-reacting metallic and iridescent paints.
For his mural-sized work, well-known and very sought out artist Francis Nacion takes a short break from his rich, highly detailed figurative work to revisit to a textile-inspired series he focused briefly almost a decade ago, as a tribute to his mother who loved to sew.
Melissa Yeung Yap integrates t’nalak, a woven textile made from Philippine abaca by the T’boli, into her mural-sized work. The flowing flowery organic forms are complemented by flat and folded t’nalak, creating a highly textured, nearly bas relief, painting.
Also following this train of thought is 0270501 whose works integrate abaca fabric sourced from Bicol, one of the country’s foremost abaca producing provinces. Finding ways to create a market while simultaneously increasing their value are some of the motives that prompt 0270501 to create the works.
“Monumental Abstracts” presents different expressions of abstraction on a large scale. The diversity of subjects and inspirations show how color, composition, balance, movement and sheer size present a welcome alternative to narrative for aesthetic delectation. Monumental Abstracts also marks a point of expansiveness as our society is opening up to the new normal; a break from being cooped up for so long in our own homes.
“Monumental Abstracts” by Anna de Leon, Francis Nacion Jr., Louie Ignacio, Jonathan Dangue, Ricky Francisco, Melissa Yeung Yap & 0270501. It is presented by Art Lounge Manila. It will be on view at Art Lounge Manila: Molito on April 16 — 30, 2022.
