Manuel Ocampo at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design

The Spectre of Comparison
Lani Maestro
Manuel Ocampo

Manuel Ocampo at STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery

“Responding to a global culture of image production and consumption in flux, Manuel Ocampo’s often chaotic and violent compositions present interactions between image-forms of a fragmented time and space, recalling the spectres of history, of painting, and of oneself. Concerned with questions of identity and versions of culture, Ocampo’s works become dimensional screens of symbols and signs that are at once familiar and arbitrary; where humour bathes itself in a certain darkness, and darkness manifests itself in a certain comfort.

More information here.

Philippine Pavilion

Island Weather, Mark Justiniani

Entering the darkness of the Philippine pavilion, it looks at first glance like the artist Mark Justiniani has been burrowing through the floor to excavate the centuries-old foundations of the Artigliere building. As your eyes adjust, you realise that the tunnel of crumbling masonry is just one element of a bigger illusion. The installation Arkipelago (2019), inspired by the hybrid histories of the island nation, consists of three glass-topped biomorphic platforms, or islands, which harness the same infinity mirror technique used by Yayoi Kusama and Ivan Navarro. In place of their twinkling coloured lights, Justiniani’s work has a creepier doll’s (fun)house aesthetic, with plunging recessions of household objects—paper stacks, suspended apple cores, wine glasses and a modest meal on a banana leaf. For the full vertigo experience, take your shoes off, walk across the glass and do look down.

– excerpt taken from The Art Newspaper article on the Venice Biennale 2019

Read more here.

Mark Justiniani
Island Weather
Philippine Pavilion at the Venice Biennale
May 11–November 24, 2019

Curated by Tessa Maria Guazon

“The art project Island Weather is the official representation of the Philippines to the 58th Venice Biennale. A collaboration between curator Tessa Maria Guazon and artist Mark Justiniani, it comprises Arkipelago a site specific and immersive installation at the Artiglierie in Arsenale. Island Weather examines understandings of the world as interconnected and perceived as an island. We are buoyed by the seeming dissolution of borders, the unprecedented speed of time, and a mobility across places never before experienced. Yet we relentlessly face the threats of displacement, discrimination, and disasters. ”

-excerpt from e-flux

More information here.

More information on the Philippine Pavilion for the Venice Biennale 2019 here.

Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design Manila

the center will not hold

An exhibition featuring works by Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan, Shilpa Gupta, Heecheon Kim, Manny Montelibano, and Tintin Wulia.

The show is presented in partnership with Galleria Continua and Mao Ji-Hong Arts Foundation.

More information here.

More information on MCAD Manila here.