Joe Bautista — Vertical and Horizontal Dreams

Joe Bautista

VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL DREAMS

Nov.9—Dec.28.2019 ART DIRECTOR

Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz

EXHIBITION TEAM

Johanna Labitoria Vicente Amancio, Jr. Jose Joeffrey Baba Gabriel Abalos

Thess Ponce Bing Francisco Roy Abrenica Edgar Bautista

CATALOGUE DESIGN

Marikit Lagunzad

EXHIBITION NOTES

Johanna Labitoria

Copyright © 2019 Joe Bautista and Galleria Duemila, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system transmitted in any form or by any abovementioned copyright holders, with the exception of reasonably brief excerpts and quotations used in articles, critical essays or research.

Joe Bautista

VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL DREAMS

Abstract Heights 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 122.00 x 92.00 cm / 48.07 x 36.25 in

Vertical and Horizontal Dreams Johanna Labitoria Joe Bautista’s comeback show slated at Galleria Duemila features twentysix (26) paintings and two (2) installations, garnering his inspiration foremost from the architecture of Japanese self-educated architect Tadao Ando, born in Osaka, Japan in 1941. Joe Bautista takes the structural forms of the architect then dives into the realm of conceptualism.

Joe Bau as he is commonly known, graduated with a degree in Advertising from the University of the East. In these new set of paintings, he utilizes a flat medium and is drawn to seemingly bright and eye-catching colors like in advertorial signages complete with different doodle elements that are meant to stun and hold your vision for much longer.

Inclined to the linear vertical capacities that human being has made, the young Joe Bau was drawn to the height of the walls that make up a building.

According to Masao Furuyama in a book entitled, Tadao Ando, published in 1996, geometry takes strictly ideal form and is the visible representation of a concept. Architecture operates on the same level as conceptualism in art in which an idea takes precedence over the actual aesthetic or material concern. The foundation in which Joe Bau has built his compositions are on the structural plans of Tadao Ando’s significant projects like the Church of the Light in Osaka, the Theater on the Water in Hokkaido and the Museum of Wood in Hyogo, all located in the country of Japan.

Abstract heights, a 4 x 3 ft work, are composed of rectangular shapes piled onto each other in a brown background, finished with organic, curvilinear elements resembling doodles of a child just learning to write on the guidelines on an elementary notebook, finishing a little bit off the grids. Piled high enough, just ending before the painting is demarcated, the gesture of upward stacking tickles the imagination of the artist,

Church of the light 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas with aluminum L-bar 152.00 x 92.00 cm / 59.89 x 36.25 in

relating it to the grand structures that Tadao Ando has made. Viewing these forms in physical reality stimulates our consciousness and as a result, elicits emotion the way conceptual art elicits thought and intrigue.

Church of the light, one of the 26 paintings done in acrylic, is a fitting retribution of one of Ando’s most striking minimalist works, with just a slit forming a cross that displays natural light in the daytime. Joe Bau utilizes an aluminum L-bar to emphasize the length of the form and to show the three-dimensionality of the work. The physical space fixates and draws to where natural light will enter the same way the artist has focused on utilizing an aluminum L-bar to capture the attention of the viewer.

A small pencil sketch of the plan on the upper left part of the painting Church on the water is a testament of the artist’s natural sensibility to draw forms and giving into the creative flow. Organic shapes are continuously flowing without inhibition.

In Underground Landscapes I and II, he utilizes a fluorescent light with a thin film of doodle glued onto an opaque glass, allowing the viewer to look into an ubiquitous landscape, hidden yet significant, an otherwise playful and dynamic take on our upfront reality.

Joe Bautista welcomes the art of the accidental. He will flip, reverse, knock down or angle to the side certain forms to see what it would look like if not in a conventional way of seeing it. These can be referenced to the artist’s early influence in architecture: Frank Gehry who in 1978 surrounded his own bungalow with corrugated steel and “split” it open with an angled skylight.

It is important to note the artist’s history of conceptual art: the rooftop (Bubong) symbolizing Manila’s slum districts originally made for the exhibition entitled, Five Contemporary Sculptors for the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1979, the Frigidaire filled with bottles that has the face of the ostentatious Imelda Marcos plastered all over them that eventually gets frosted exhibited in K-Lahi in Fiesta Carnival in Cubao, Quezon City

Church on the water 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas with aluminum L-bar 152.00 x 92.00 cm / 59.89 x 36.25 in

in 1974 in an exhibition entitled, Basta Hindi Ganon ‘Yon (Translated to: That’s not how it is) and finally, the patch of grass called The Bermuda Triangle accompanying an environmental commentary displayed in the preview exhibition of Pinaglabanan Galleries in 1984.

In a time of meandering in the 1960’s-1970’s, he has met his contemporaries such as Gus Albor, Lao Lianben and Red Mansueto in the university. Afterwards, he met Roberto ‘Bobby’ Chabet, Yola Johnson, Rodolfo Gan, Jose ‘Boy’ Perez Jr. and Fernando Modesto. Together with Joy Dayrit, these aforementioned artists formed a group called the Shop 6. In 1972, Joe Bautista was eventually awarded the Thirteen Artists award along with Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi, Danilo Dalena, Johnny Manahan, Justin Nuyda, Romulo Olazo and Ibarra Dela Rosa just to name a few. It is succinct to note that art production at their time was experiencing a rebirth, a churning of ideas and a desire for information ready to be made into personal and social statements.

At present, in Vertical and Horizontal Dreams exhibition, Joe Bau has laid out his thoughts and aspirations on canvasses, allowing his background on conceptualism mix in with his advertising aesthetic. Joe Bautista’s artistic production are composed of several frameworks that are inevitably intertwined yet uniquely played out, resulting into paintings and installations that are not to be taken on the superficial side but always in a three-dimensional depth, in both the literal and figurative sense.

Underground Landscape II 2019 flourescent and ink on opaque glass 125.00 x 13.50 cm / 49.45 x 5.32 in

Underground Landscape I (detail)

Underground Landscape I 2019 flourescent and ink on opaque glass 191.00 x 52.50 cm / 75.25 x 20.69 in

Theater on the water I 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas with aluminum L-bar 92.00 x 92.00 cm / 36.25 x 36.25 in

 View Finder I  View Finder II 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas with aluminum L-bar 92.00 x 92.00 cm / 36.25 x 36.25 in

Chapel on Mt. Nokko 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 122.00 x 92.00 cm / 48.07 x 36.25 in

Slit Aperture II 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 122.00 x 92.00 cm / 48.07 x 36.25 in

Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 122.00 x 92.00 cm / 48.07 x 36.25 in

Rectangular dreams in green 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 122.00 x 92.00 cm / 48.07 x 36.25 in

 Museum of Wood 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 152.00 x 92.00 cm / 59.89 x 36.25 in  Theater on the water II 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 122.00 x 92.00 cm / 48.07 x 36.25 in

 Vertical and Horizontal Dreams I 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 152.00 x 92.00 cm / 59.89 x 36.25 in  Horizontal Dreams in blue 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 122.00 x 92.00 cm / 48.07 x 36.25 in

ď‚ƒ Chichu Art Museum 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas with aluminum L-bar 152.00 x 92.00 cm / 59.89 x 36.25 in ď‚ Horizontal Dreams in orange 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 122.00 x 92.00 cm / 48.07 x 36.25 in

Inner depth over outer beauty 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 122.00 x 92.00 cm / 48.07 x 36.25 in

Vertical and Horizontal Dreams II 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 122.00 x 92.00 cm / 48.07 x 36.25 in

Major crossroads 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 92.00 x 152.00 cm / 36.25 x 59.89 in

 Abstract Heights I 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 152.00 x 92.00 cm / 59.89 x 36.25 in  Fraternise with Nature 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 122.00 x 92.00 cm / 48.07 x 36.25 in

 Abstract Heights II 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 152.00 x 92.00 cm / 59.89 x 36.25 in  Stage for Dreams 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 122.00 x 92.00 cm / 48.07 x 36.25 in

Slit Aperture I 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 92.00 x 152.00 cm / 36.25 x 59.89 in

 Embedded in the Earth 2019 ink on canvas 184.00 x 122.00 cm / 72.50 x 48.07 in  Concrete Frame 2019 acrylic and ink on canvas 125.00 x 59.00 cm / 49.25 x 23.25 in

JOSE D. BAUTISTA (b. 1951, Sta. Cruz, Manila, Philippines) EDUCATION Fine Arts, Advertising Major, University of the East 1980 - 1981

Studied Ceramics: Sining Kamalig

AWARDS 1969

1970 1972 1979

First Prize in Sculpture, 15th National Art Competition 1st Honorable Mention, 3rd UST On-the-Spot Painting Contest 1st Honorable Mention in Sculpture, 16th National Art Competition 13 Artist Awards, Cultural Center of the Philippines 5 Contemporary Sculptors, Cultural Center of the Philippines

EXHIBITIONS 1972 - 1980

1974 1974 - 1980 1980 1980 - 1983 1985 - 1988 1990

1994 2002 2004 2008 2010 2011 2018 2018 2019

Participated in a Major Show: Cultural Center of the Philippines (Main and Small Gallery) One Man Show: Cultural Center of the Philippines (Small Gallery) Participated: Shop 6 Exhibits: Sining Kamalig Art Gallery Participated: Festival Contemporary Asian Art Show, 1980, Fukuoka, Japan Set Designer: Cultural Center of the Philippines Participated: West Pinaglabanan Art Gallery Participated Major Show: West Gallery One Man Show: West Gallery One Man Show: West Gallery Four Artists for Alma Mater: Finale Art Gallery A Confrontation with Art: Astra Gallery UE 4th Year Anniversary: Cultural Center of the Philippines Ulan sa Tag-Init: The Gallery Edsa Ano Ngayon: Sining Kamalig Participated Group Show: Galleria Duemila at Art Fair Philippines Participated Group Show: Ateneo Art Gallery Participated Group Show: Galleria Duemila at Art Fair Philippines

galleria duemila was established in 1975 by Italian born Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz.

Duemila means “twentieth century”, and it was this vision that inspired Duemila’s advocacy in promoting and preserving Philippine contemporary art. To date, it is the longest running commercial art gallery in the Philippines maintaining a strong international profile. With the vision to expose its artists locally and within the ASEAN region, Duemila complements its exhibits with performances, readings and musical events in its custom-built gallery in Pasay City, Manila.

Galleria Duemila takes pride in being the only local gallery to publish and mount retrospectives of artists as part of its advocacy in pursuing art historical research and scholarship. With the collaboration of institutions, Duemila has mounted the retrospectives of Roberto M.A. Robles (Ateneo Art Gallery, 2011), Duddley Diaz (Vargas Museum, 2009), Julie Lluch Dalena (Cultural Center of the Philippines, 2008). It has also published a book on Diosdado Magno Lorenzo (National Library of the Philippines, 2009) and produced a major Pacita Abad exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, 2004.

The gallery maintains close ties with museums throughout Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States. Its futurist vision keeps it at the cutting-edge of Philippine art, making and archiving history as it happens.

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