Cris Villanueva Jr.’s new one-man exhibit, titled Memorable Fiction, deals with the concept of recognizance, re-acknowledging nature and the nature of things (known and unknown) through half-concealed and half-disclosed images, sometimes using patterns that may create an illusion. On view at West Gallery, SM Megamall, from April 10 to 30, Memorable Fiction features the artist’s latest works in oil.
“It is about re-evaluating the changes from one medium to another, the qualities underlying all phenomena/miscalculations, and the power it has to enlighten or to deceive. Understanding ‘understanding’ when unaffected by deteriorating influences,” adds Villanueva. “This answers the question of whether something is lost or added in the process of communication or translation.”
One of the works is “Understanding understanding,” a 5′ x 4′ oil on canvas painting featuring a picture of a bone and a satellite superimposed over another painting underneath. A field of dots allows the images in the under-painting to be half-concealed and half-disclosed.
To Villanueva, the concept begins with an outbreak of ideas and settles in an easy arrangement, as he sorts these ideas while leisurely walking or even while watching movies. “I painted bubbles over paintings that have been stolen, lost, burnt or copied in my previous shows. In another show I used the camouflage for pattern recognition.”
Villanueva, who spent 15 years in advertising as an art director, has been painting and had participated in group shows since the mid-70s. He graduated Bachelor of Fine Arts at UP Diliman (1990) and A.B. Political Science at Philippine Christian University (1983). He is also a two-time winner at the Philippine Art Awards sponsored by Philip Morris, winning the Grand Prize Award in 2005 and a Juror’s Choice Award in 2006.
