Gallery Indigo

Taking its name from the gallery established by the artist in the 60s with his elder brother and fellow artist, Salvador Cabrera, Gallery Indigo is a venue for bimonthly art exhibitions.

Currently on Exhibit:

MATTER AND SPIRIT
by Arturo Sanchez Jr.
8 February to 29 March 2020

Substantiating Essence and Existence

In Matter and Spirit, Arturo Sanchez Jr. further delves into layers of humanity, life and meaning with his acrylic and clear cast resin-encased collages that continue the shifting narratives prevalent in his works. The artworks in the exhibition are practical analogies of the artist’s production process, with his collages representing matter while the final works breathe soul and spirit.

Taking off from Christ’s image, Sanchez experienced trial and error in his exploration of form when he tried to construct his collages with crucifixions and saintly statues. The artist had to hunt for images of other familiar pieces of sculpture for his new works, creating amalgamations that serve to either enlighten or question faith and religion, human nature and spirituality.

Contemplating Tragedy showcases destruction and ruin brought about by either force majeure or man-made maneuvers. With a central figure clutching another in the midst of crushed buildings, debris and an atmosphere almost obliterated by dust and fog, a tiny rescue team serves as punctuation to catastrophe and a statement of futility. Deceiver shows the figure of a man with his body cavity exposed, innards almost spilling while in the company of naked women and what seem to be floating microbes, the pictorial composition set up to warn against not only duplicity, but an epidemic of incurable physical damage. The series Desire for Immortality layers flesh under the coldness of stone and marble signifying the vulnerabilities of being human despite one’s ambitions to live forever. The legacy of enduring objects prove as contrast to finite existences of being alive. Faith Fake Fade is an unnerving vision of hands in surrender and supplication while in worship of a crucified icon, itself made of hands, like the heaving masses of devotees that might find themselves enmeshed in blind faith. Sacred Silhouette 1 to 6 challenge visions of saintliness and iconography as Sanchez warps each central figure, making the beautiful macabre as if to test whether we actually walk by faith or by sight. Glory To The Vanquished and Overshadowed foil each other not just in terms of being at both ends of the color spectrum, one warm and the other cold, but also portrays angels in different stances and varying burdens.

Perhaps as ode to the exhibition site, Sanchez also prepared various incarnations of bulol carvings, altering them by playing with form and proportion, and adding different components in metal echoing the look and form of the artist’s collages. By the creation of these modified guardian deities, tradition is challenged with restraint and respect, as possible changes in heritage due to urbanization are rendered physical form.

With the artist’s recent works, he not only questions prevailing notions about devotion. Saints turn into monsters of nightmares while humans aim for perfection and subsistence that goes to infinity and beyond. Perhaps these images are reminders that we create our heaven or hell, with all the accompanying cast of characters that bring us hope and despair.

Born in Caloocan City, Arturo T. Sanchez Jr. graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture. He won numerous awards such as the Grand Prize at the Art Petron oil/acrylic painting category in 2006, the Award of Merit in 2012 and the Grand Prize in the 2014 Philippine Art Awards, and the Sangguniang Bayan Award 2015 for excellence in art by the Municipality of Angono, Philippines.

Sanchez has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions in the Philippines and abroad. He is currently a member of the Angono Artists Association and Neo-Angono Artist Collective. Matter and Spirit is his 15th solo exhibition.

BALANGKAS
by Manny Garibay

Manny Garibay represents the influence of thought over the traditions and practices of society in his current exhibition Balangkas. His works on paper and wood panel are of surreal and allegorical imagery, depicting his take on cultural ideology. Each piece describes society’s collective thinking, proving that it is no longer money or power that move the world, but ideas. View Exhibit