About the Event
In (t)here, the artist’s first solo exhibition, Pope Bacay explores the concept of home—specifically, those he and his family have occupied or at least encountered while on the search for a new place to rent. Sudden necessities, such as needing more space in order to accommodate larger works, have rendered the artist to live almost nomadically. Thus the idea of transition—including the passing of time and how certain ephemeral moments can be attached to areas of residence—is also a key aspect of the show.
Bacay’s fixation on such betrays a sense of longing, a desire for permanence. Painting, the stringing together of surfaces via strokes of pigments, is his preferred method of crystallizing the idea of home along with the various memories that permeate it. Splicing certain areas allows each work to act as a capsule embodying the periods of his life, as marked by particular instances of residence, yet despite their individual distinctions, still belong to a single and broader phase of perpetual relocation.
Numerous pieces depict Bacay’s place in his hometown of Roxas in Oriental Mindoro, ranging from a full portrait of the façade to close-ups of the balustrades and the windows. Also part of the show are smaller works portraying several apartments as well as a polyptych—similar to his undergrad thesis “My Third Home” wherein more than thirty oil-on-shaped-canvas landscape paintings formed a puzzle of sorts. His recent polyptych however presents multiple exterior architectural elements—terraces, gates, grills, windows, balustrades, and roofs—all of which help reveal an inclination towards certain patterns resembling those present in his childhood house in Mindoro. This evident nostalgia is further augmented with the notion of the outdoors as an area where children often play; one clear instance of the artist delving into the complex interrelationship between time, geography, architecture, and memory.
(t)here runs from 5 to 26 November 2016 at Tin-aw Art Gallery. In conjunction with the exhibition will be an Artist talk on 19 November, Saturday, 3pm at Tin-aw Art Gallery.
Contact Tin-aw Art Gallery for information on the exhibition at the Upper Ground Floor, Somerset Olympia Building Makati Avenue, Makati City. Phone +632 8927522 . Website www.tin-aw.com.