Galerie Stephanie is delighted to announce its participation in Art Fair Philippines 2023! Returning to its original venue for its 10th anniversary, this year’s edition will be held at The Link Carpark in Makati, from 16 to 19 February 2023.
We have three presentations in our booth, curated by Liv Vinluan: “In This Ground” by Mr. S, “Absence of Abundance, Excess of Existence” by Aileen Lanuza and Hideo Tanaka, and “Surface To Air”; featuring glass and acrylic artworks from sculptor Anna Orlina, multi-awarded Spanish artist Cristina Gamón, and local artists Gabby Prado, Jomike Tejido and Lyndon Maglalang. A Special Exhibition by Jomike Tejido will also be presented at The Link Roof Deck.
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The world of Mark Santos, better known with the moniker Mr. S, is built on a bedrock of fantasy. The child in this painted world is about to take a flight of fancy, his head is deep in puffs of cumulus, a glowing lantern on one hand and a gigantic feline companion by his side. The destination is unknown, but the journey is here and is about to be taken.
In This Ground is Mr. S ‘ exhibition with Galerie Stephanie in this year’s edition of Art Fair Philippines, and it displays the artist’s continuing fascination with Japonism and an inclination to character building—a process undoubtedly honed from a career in film and video prior his foray into the local art scene. For In This Ground, the persona is of a shy one, a human boy hiding behind cat masks and puffy air, choosing only to journey through thicket and trees and almost always accompanied by a feline friend. Cats have long figured in Japanese folklore. The maneki-neko tells the story of a cat possessing protective powers and luck, while the supernatural bakeneko manipulates (at times) and shape shifts. Discreet and minding their own matters, both boy and animal are equipped for a long journey ahead. At times bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, and sometimes circling a small campfire, the pair weaves through the hinterlands and float through puffs of cloud, on a quest which we, as viewer, can only form in conjecture.
Japanese artist Hideo Tanaka and Filipina artist Aileen Lanuza present Absence of Abundance, Excess of Existence with Galerie Stephanie at this year’s edition of Art Fair Philippines. While both painters pay meticulous attention to detail, the stories in Tanaka’s work tells of things on the cusp, while Lanuza’s work on the other hand is a display of full realization—a steady, direct gaze from a profusion of blooms—and a fully complete blossoming in rich color.
Aileen Lanuza’s canvases are adorned with floral clusters, every fold and crease and stroke of the brush a fitting tribute to growth and botanical magic. The gossamer crease and fold of petal and leaf belie a strength and a resistance—an homage perhaps to the complexities of womanhood.
In Hideo Tanaka’s world, the decay of flowers are seemingly held in suspension and human figures are poised and nestled on rusty arms of monolithic machines, unperturbed in a strangely placid, urban landscape. Perched on excavators and poles, they survey not only land, but mind and reason as well. There are objects which never fully realize their use; glass bottles are on the verge of tipping over, plastic toy parts are sealed and unopened, and yolks never emerge from cracked egg shells. Everything is in the precipice of falling and on the threshold of breaking. Held in suspense and anticipation, we never experience its end, and neither do we see the deterioration of things. Tanaka only subtly suggests it and in withholding imminent eventuality he does not diminish the poignancy of his pictures, but on the contrary, drives his intent deeper.
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Providing a sense of respite and clarity—a breathing space from hubbub and humdrum—the works of Anna Orlina, Cristina Gamón, Gabby Prado, Lyndon Maglalang, and Jomike Tejido are each a testament to the power of form, color, and light. As they use glass and acrylic to harness and manipulate light in ways that capture the mesmerizing interplay between the material and the surrounding environment, each artist creates forms to contemplate both force and fragility with tactile clarity.
In the lyrical abstractions of Gabby Prado and Jomike Tejido, each artist’s individual understanding and sensitivity to depth and chromaticity capture the sense of harmony that exists between inner states and outer forms. Such is also evident in the landscapes of Lyndon Maglalang, where hushed reflections find expression in figurative terms and renders of rich and candid monochromaticity.
The resonant dialogue of light and shape furthermore creates a sense of movement and fluidity, evoking a feeling of peace and tranquility. Such is found in the pure, unencumbered forms of glass artists Anna Orlina and Cristina Gamón which invite the viewer to contemplate the majesty of both the built and the natural world, reminding us of the simple yet profound beauty that surrounds us every day.
Curated by Liv Vinluan
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Galerie Stephanie is delighted to present Jomike Tejido’s “Night Gems”, a special collaboration with Art Fair Philippines 2023.
Part of the artist’s sculptural material exploration, Tejido takes on translucent acrylic sheets to echo his crystalline paintings and provide them with their structural counterparts. The medium allows the light to travel through their parts, generating refractions.
“When building them, I felt that I could “paint” in 3D, where the colored sheets act as my paints, their overlaps are my blending, the light is my thinning medium, and the connecting ridges are my thin construction lines reminiscent of my architectural drafting background,” the artist shares. “It was fun to step out of my usual picture plane and enter the spatial possibilities of turning my work into something tangible, while retaining my spontaneous painterly gestures.”