Exhibitions

Galerie Joaquin, in cooperation with Fundacion Sanso, is pleased to present Louie Ignacio’s 9th solo exhibition and the Philippine premiere of #DEepexPRESSIONs, a short film of the same title, which has been invited for screening and competition by film and art institutions and festivals in Barcelona, Rome, and Delhi this last quarter of 2020. Hidden within the title is the word DEPRESSION, the strong and lingering wave of emotion felt by Ignacio from the powerlessness and confusion brought about by the first few months of COVID-19, and the Enhanced Community Quarantine that was in effect on the entire Philippines from March until June.

“Locked up in my room, and listening to all the sad news, I could not help but feel depressed for the many persons affected, especially the frontliners who risked and lost their lives for the sake of serving our country. Hearing news of people getting sick, and not knowing what to do and how I could help, I painted, and made this film. Art is my refuge,” says Ignacio, who is known mostly for his cheerful, and vibrant landscapes and flower paintings, which count Sanso among his artistic influences. “I am proud to say that Sanso is one of the painters who inspires me. When I had a show, and he told me that one of my works was “his”, I was so proud. It was the highest compliment he could have given me. And so I am happy to have this solo exhibition at his museum. I have always dreamed of having this, and now it is here.”

Like Ignacio, Sanso was inspired to paint as a release for the trauma he experienced during World War II. Sanso, who was a teen when World War II reached Manila, was deeply traumatized by having had a brush with death twice during what should have been his carefree, formative years. Tortured by the Japanese who thought he was an American, and then later almost dying from a bomb that was dropped by the Americans when they tried to flush the Japanese out of the city, Sanso has recalled that he still awakes from vivid nightmares of the horrors of war and his torture, until when he was already in his 60’s. For Sanso, art became his salvation. Painting his grotesque black series exorcised the demons of his trauma in the decades after the war. He ultimately found peace in the coasts of Brittany, and created colorful seascapes and florals after that, much like Ignacio has done with this exhibition.

“During the ECQ, I painted and donated some of my works to Artists’ Pool, a fundraiser to help our frontliners. But even without doing that, I know that by making art, I am also contributing to making the world a better place; primarily for me, but then also to those who see the beauty and the solace that these paintings and this film expresses. Beauty does not always appear in what is happy. Sometimes, it appears even in the bleakest times. As Feodor Dostoevsky says, ‘Beauty will save the world.’ And it has done so, for me.”

“#DEepexPRESSIONs” will run from September 10 until October 7, 2020 and will have an online reception on September 18, 4pm. For inquiries, please call Galerie Joaquin at (+632) 7239253 or email info@galeriejoaquin.com. Part of the sales will be donated to the Fundacion Sanso Art Student Scholarship Fund that currently has 11 scholars and has had 3 graduates to date.