ArtFairPH/Projects
Leonard Aguinaldo
Level 7, Special Exhibition 7 The Link, Ayala Center, Makati City March 1-4, 2018
Leonard Aguinaldo’s work with the rubbercut medium serves as vivid records of local culture: a reverent, sometimes satirical, snapshot of people’s practices and customs, and the animating beliefs—the spiritual and inner worlds—that hover quietly within them. Spanning an artistic career of almost two decades, Aguinaldo has crafted depictions of Cordillera life and highland traditions, folk belief and indigenous rituals. A recipient of CCP’s Thirteen Artists Award in 2003 and the grand prize in the ASEAN Art Awards in Bangkok in 2004, Aguinaldo is recognized for championing ethnographic art, notable not only for how his chosen subject matter pays homage to the story of a people, but also for how his technique and medium hark back to the place where they are made. Having been raised in Baguio where he presently resides, Aguinaldo takes inspiration from indigenous craft, citing as his artistic influences the humble wood carvers and weavers in his hometown. The artist likewise revels in the ubiquity of folk art during fiestas in Ilocos: the knitted handicrafts decorating tricycles and jeepneys, and the various colors and textures that conjure an atmosphere of celebration. 1
While having mastered the technique of rubbercutting and linocut printing, Aguinaldo has chosen to omit the final process of printmaking, exhibiting, instead, the canvass on which the images are carved. He
draws attention to the physicality of the medium. In ploughing the surface with dynamic strokes, his works are charged with immediacy and expressive force, showing, as in the mark of craftsmen, the irreversible dent of the hand on the yielding surface. Aguinaldo’s work for the Art Fair extends his usual subject from indigenous culture to the beliefs and rituals of the common Filipino. Here, the artist fashions a rich tapestry of things—concepts, symbols, and characters—that populate the landscape of the Filipino imagination. With a board game perched on a table at the center of the exhibit, Aguinaldo anchors the show in an idea of play—as well as the myths, beliefs, and gods that govern the machinery of the game. On the table, the innards of a pig are mapped out with words culled from political campaigns. The board is studded with faces of politicians, turned celebrities, turned heroes. On the wall, a work alludes to the infamous numbers game of jueteng. We see a tapestry of dreams and their corresponding numbers, a rich configuration of things that lend the game a sense of mystique and a semblance of madness. Two wall-bound works, in a sober palette of blue and yellow, seem to echo each other. On one howls a dog (a literal anagram for god), depicted as the center and origin of the natural world. On another figures Christ—
the record-breaking $450 million painting of Leonardo da Vinci, or what Aguinaldo simply calls, “an expensive prayer.” In a game, rules and rituals abound, almost akin to religion. Different elements intertwine: vice and magic, science and superstition, faith and chance. The show seems to tease out the notion of belonging in a culture: To play is to participate, to submit oneself to a system of signs and symbols, beliefs and myths. And so we scan the palpable surface, as though tracing hieroglyphics, gaining insight into a way of believing and a way of life. Through the show, Aguinaldo fleshes out our reverence for the spiritual, the spectacular, and the farcical subsumed in the everyday. As we roll the dice, we take a gamble. We are all compelled to play. — Pristine De Leon
Pristine L. de Leon is a writer who maintains an art and culture column for The Philippine Star. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Communication and a minor in Literature at the Ateneo de Manila University. She has been involved in publishing work and has served as an editor for the luxury and lifestyle titles of Hinge Inquirer Publications. In 2016, she won the Purita Kalaw Award for Art Criticism.
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LIST OF WORKS
1
Fighting Artists (2017) Mixed media on carved rubber
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156 × 156 CM / 61.42 × 61.42 IN
2
Saviour (2017) Mixed media on carved rubber
89 × 89 CM / 35.04 × 35.04 IN
7
89 × 89 CM / 35.04 × 35.04 IN
3
Mahal na dasal (2017) Mixed media on carved rubber
Memory Loss (2017) Mixed media on carved rubber 89 × 89 CM / 35.04 × 35.04 IN
5
Never Say Die (2017) Mixed media on carved rubber 170 × 122 CM / 66.93 × 48.03 IN
Prayer 2 (2017) Mixed media on carved rubber 89 × 89 CM / 35.04 × 35.04 IN
8
89 × 89 CM / 35.04 × 35.04 IN
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Prayer 1 (2017) Mixed media on carved rubber
I See You (2018) Mixed media on carved rubber 90 × 180 CM / 35.43 × 70.87 IN
9
Perya (2017) Oil on canvas 121.92 × 274.32 CM / 48 × 108 IN
10 Ancestors ride the circus horse (2017) Oil and acrylic on cotton table cloth 125 × 125 CM / 49.25 × 49.25 IN
11 The Awakening (2016) Oil and acrylic on cotton table cloth 125 × 125 CM / 49.25 × 49.25 IN
12 May Naisip Ka Ba Na Numero? (2017) Mixed media on carved rubber 152 × 152 CM / 59.84 × 59.84 IN
13 Piggy Game Board (2017) Mixed media on carved rubber 120 × 120 × 70 CM / 47.24 × 47.24 × 27.56 IN
DETAIL OF “MAY NAISIP KA BA NA NUMERO?”
DETAIL OF “PERYA”
LEONARD AGUINALDO
S O LO E X H I B IT I O N S
2016 2015 aa
2014 2011 aa 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2002 2001 aa 2000 1999 aa 1996 1994
Inima 3, Galleria Duemila, 210 Loring St., Pasay City, Philippines Inima 2, Linocut Prints Show, Maryknoll Sanctuary And Ecological Center, Baguio City, Philippines Inima 1, Woodcut Mural, Cafe By The Ruins Dua, Session Rd. Baguio City, Philippines Bombilla, Art Cube, 3/F Glorietta 4, Ayala Malls, Makati City, Philippines Transposition, Bencab Museum, Asin Rd., Tuba, Benguet, Philippines State Side, Looking For Juan Art Gallery, Serendra, Fort Santiago, Global City, Taguig City, Philippines Cultural Crossing Via Vermont, Red Mill Gallery, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, USA Connectivity, Galleria Duemila, 210 Loring St., Pasay City, Philippines Northern Exposure, Utterly Art, Singapore Subjects, Galleria Duemila, 210 Loring St., Pasay City, Philippines Ay Apo! Christ is Good, Galleria Duemila, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines Mood Swings, Village Gallery, Tam-awan Village, Baguio City, Philippines Creative Isolation, Hiraya Gallery, United Nations Ave., Ermita, Manila, Philippines Chadjang and Other Rites, Quest for the Healing Arts, Hiraya Gallery, United Nations Ave., Ermita, Manila, Philippines Slash and Burn, The Sanctuary Gallery, Campo Sioco, Baguio City, Philippines “Mata-on” Seasons of the Year, Jorge Vargas Museum, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines Songs of a People, Literary Art Center, Kongju City, South Korea Inroads: Chronicles of a Traveller, Baguio Mountain Province Museum, Baguio City, Philippines “Ap-aponituo” Ancestors of the People, Pasilyo Guillermo Tolentino, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Roxas Blvd., Manila, Philippines
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2015 2014 aa 2013
2012
2011 2010
2009 2007 2005 2004 2003
Markets of Resistance, Philippine Women’s University, Taft Ave., Malate, Manila, Philippines Markets of Resistance, A Visual And Interdisciplinary Trade-Barter Art Exhibition, Baguio City Market, Baguio City, Philippines Singapore Art Biennale, If The World Changed, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore Re-View 2013, Indigo Gallery, Bencab Museum, Asin Rd., Tuba, Benguet, Philippines Annual Sculpture Review, Art Center, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines Philippines-Malaysia July Exhibition, Galerie Seni Mutiara, Penang, Malaysia Kalasag Art Show, Ayala Museum, Makati City, Philippines Manila Art 2012, SMX, Mall of Asia, Pasay City, Philippines Annual Sculpture Review, Art Center SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines (Presented By Gallery Nine) Portrait of Baguio Artists As Culture Bearers, Gallery Indigo, Ben Cab Museum, Asin Rd., Tuba, Benguet, Philippines Re:view 2011, Indigo Gallery, Ben Cab Museum, Asin Rd., Tuba, Benguet, Philippines Four Folds, Four Man Show, Nova Gallery, Makati City, Philippines Asia Art Link 2010, Cultural Center Of The Philippines, Pasay City, Philippines Highlander 8, Bencab Museum, Asin Road, Tuba, Benguet, Philippines Remix: Santiago Bose, Yuchengco Museum, RCBC Plaza, Makati City, Philippines Manila Art ’09 Asia’s Latest Contemporary Art Fair, NBC Tent, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines Homage to Apo Ben, Cordillera Suite, Yuchengo Museum, Makati City, Philippines DELPHIC Games (Art Olympics) ‘Revitalizing Endangered Traditions’ Kuching, Sarawak, East Malaysia ASEAN Art Awards Exhibition , National Art Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand GLOBALIZATION vs. IDENTITIES, Dahlem Museum, Berlin, Germany Philippine Art Awards Exhibition, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines Sungdu-an 3: ‘Dayo’ - Making the Local, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Sison Auditorium, Lingayen Pangasinan 13 Artists Award Exhibition, Main Gallery, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Roxas Blvd., Manila, Philippines
2002 2000 1999
Busan Biennale 2002 (Finalist), Sea Art Festival Installation Contest, Busan City, South Korea Tam-awan Village Artists Show, Metropolitan Gallery, Shangri-la Mall, Mandaluyong City, Philippines Le Vent De Forets (The Wind of the Forest), Nature Art Symposium and Exhibition, Lahaymiex, France PRINT SHOW, Studio One National Print Workshop, Kingston, Australia 1998 13th Asian Art Exhibition, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1997 Yokohama International Open Air Exhibition, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan 1994 International Nature Art Symposium and Exhibition, Kongju City, South Korea 1992 2nd Visayan Islands Visual Arts Exhibit Conference (VIVA-EXCON), Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines Baguio Arts Guild Presents: Installations, Baguio Convention Center, Baguio City, Philippines 1989-1993 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Baguio Arts Festival, Baguio Convention Center, Baguio City, Philippines AW A R D S
2004 2003 2002
Grand Prize, ASEAN Art Awards, Bangkok, Thailand 13 Artists Award, Cultural Center of the Philippines Top Five Jurors’ Choice, Philippines/ASEAN Art Awards 2003, sponsored by Philip Morris Philippines, Inc. Special Selection, Sea Art Festival Installation Contest, Busan Biennale 2002, South Korea
RESIDENCY AND SPECIAL PROJECTS
2009 2006 aa 2000 1997
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont, USA Children’s book illustration Moonbeams, an environmental children’s book published by the Cordillera Green Network and Japan Fund for Global Environment Rubber Cut Printing and Silk Screen Printing, Brent International School, Baguio City Publication of the book “Ap-aponituo” Ancestors of the People, a coffee table book on folk tales, myths and legends of Indigenous People of Northern Philippines, Rex Publishing Inc., Quezon City, Philippines
Copyright © 2018 Leonard Aguinaldo, Art Fair Philippines and Galleria Duemila, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system transmitted in any form or by any means without the written consent of the abovementioned copyright holders, with the exception of reasonably brief excerpts and quotations used in articles, critical essays or research. PUBLISHED BY
Galleria Duemila, Inc.
A RT D I R E C T O R
Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz
C ATA L O G U E E S S AY B Y C ATA L O G U E D E S I G N B Y
Leonard Aguinaldo Level 7, Special Exhibition 7 The Link, Ayala Center, Makati City March 1-4, 2018
PRESENTED BY
2018
EXHIBITION TEAM
Johanna Labitoria Vicente Amancio, Jr. Jose Joeffrey Baba Gabriel Abalos Dianne Ong
ArtFairPH/Projects
Thess Ponce Bing Francisco Roy Abrenica Edgar Bautista
ART FAIR PHILIPPINES
I N C O O P E R AT I O N W I T H
Pristine De Leon Anna Rafanan
galleria duemila was established in 1975 by Italian born Silvana AncellottiDiaz. Duemila means “twentieth century”, and it was this vision that inspired Duemila’s advocacy in promoting and preserving Philippine contemporary art. To date, it is the longest running commercial art gallery in the Philippines maintaining a strong international profile. With the vision to expose its artists locally and within the ASEAN region, Duemila complements its exhibits with performances, readings and musical events in its custom-built gallery in Pasay City, Manila. Galleria Duemila takes pride in being the only local gallery to publish and mount retrospectives of artists as part of its advocacy in pursuing art historical research and scholarship. With the collaboration of institutions, Duemila has mounted the retrospectives of Roberto
M. A. Robles (Ateneo Art Gallery, 2011), Duddley Diaz (Vargas Museum, 2009), Julie Lluch Dalena (Cultural Center of the Philippines, 2008). It has also published a book on Diosdado Magno Lorenzo (National Library of the Philippines, 2009) and produced a major Pacita Abad exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, 2004. The gallery maintains close ties with museums throughout Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States. Its futurist vision keeps it at the cutting-edge of Philippine art, making and archiving history as it happens.
se rv ice s: conse rv at ion a nd re storat ion of p a inting s, c onsulta ncy se rv ice s, commissions a nd inst a l l ation