Exhibitions

The concept behind “Disassembled Assembly’s” disassembled images of renowned classics is the philosophy of deconstruction that elicits human impulse to view the familiar from different perspectives. The viewer is invited to visualize the disassembled pieces of an image from a distance – when the disfigured elements come to take shape. Aldrino Abes’ intention is to capture the harmony between beauty and chaos; a construction and deconstruction of space to evoke the emotional connections between what is familiar and what is transcendent.

Abes’ latest works deal with captivating the memory of a certain image, and accentuating its complexity and simplicity at the same time. His paintings are coerced by geometric and mathematical thinking and the need to capture the brief property of a mental picture. One may also consider the works to be tangent trajectory hence an ode to the National Artist Ang Kiukok, whose works were characterized by the reduction of natural appearances to their bare essentials or geometrical equivalents, and by the emphasis on formal structure without regard for illusionary depth.

Abes imposes the need to view his pieces between the illusions of light and the visual disruptions that images produce when viewed at close range. These works embody a highly-advanced understanding of the color theory and form from the artist. For “Disassembled Assembly”, the artist combines the subtleties of color with both optics and illusion to create retinal images that work on multiple levels.

Aldrino Abes’ latest exhibit reinterprets classical art for the modern world – making it more diverse and more inclusive. As art continues to become more accessible, the masterpieces of the past will no doubt continue to inspire the creativity of the present. By reimagining traditional painting constructs, he challenges notions of linear perspective, space, dimensionality, and abstraction. The two-dimensional becomes three-dimensional, the part becomes the whole, and the forgotten is given presence.

Aldrino Abes (b. 1974) came to Manila in 1995 at the age 20. He first worked as a sign maker and later apprenticed to painter Carlo Magno, who exposed him to realistic interiors and facades of old houses before his mentor went into abstraction. Abes eventually abandoned this subject and found alternative expression in the rough simplicity of strokes and figures referencing highland ethnic Filipino communities.

“Disassembled Assembly” will be on view from August 16 to 25, 2019. The gallery is located on the 2nd Floor of Phase 2, UP Town Center, Katipunan Ave, Diliman, Quezon City. For inquiries, contact Galerie Joaquin at (+63)2 247 1109 or email galeriejoaquin@gmail.com.