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Retrospective Exhibit on Junyee Premieres at Altro Mondo
For their annual ICONS series, Altro Mondo Creative Space spotlighted legendary artist Junyee as their second featured artist. Of Man and Nature is only Junyee’s fifth gallery exhibition in his decades-long career due to the nature of his artworks.
“I’ve been doing art professionally for 60 years, but I only have five shows,” he shared. “I don’t like doing [an] exhibition in a gallery. Most of my work [is] outside: in the mountains, in the river, in the field. But this time, I cannot say no to the owners, a good friend of mine. Because they have this series [that] Ben Cab started last year, every December.
“I’m the second one, so I cannot say no. Besides, last year, there was a tribute show here for me. So that is the first time [I had] been given a tribute show from different artists and professional artists. So that’s the reason why I’m around.”
Versatility of Wood in a Modern Setting
For Of Man and Nature, the exhibit attempts to reflect on the career of Junyee, including the different themes that appear to pop out within his work. Much of his work utilizes wood and other natural materials, functioning as commentary on a modern industrial world.
“Each piece symbolizes growth, life, and change, presenting wood not merely as a material but as a living testament to the natural world’s cycles,” the exhibit write-up said.
Of interest to art history aficionados is a recreation of “Wood Things.” First exhibited at the 1982 Paris Biennale, it’s the work that established his name as an artist internationally. For this artwork, Junyee repurposes dry banana stalks and kapok pods to create these bug-like entities that look like fleas.
It uses an abstract version of a typical “pet animal” shape as a way of commenting on the need of depicting the ideal artistic beauty shapes to instead depict our personal perception. The work is a sincere deconstruction of colonialist standards, and a strange sight to behold in real life.
Modernity and the Sustainability of Our Systems
Many of the other works featured in Of Man and Nature incorporate natural and fabricated objects in interesting and innovative ways. Some, for example, utilize soot alongside a variety of materials like metal sheets and electronic boards. Junyee manipulates them into looking like typical tech parts, adding an ominous feeling through the combination of disparate elements.
Other pieces in the show utilize dried seeds collected and arranged circularly on canvas. They appear caged in a metal matrix, with some of the seeds painted in primary colors to add a sense of offness to the work. The works here are also combined with seeds scattered below the painting, suggesting a spillover of raw materials escaping the cage of the canvas.
“This integration highlights the dualities of progress and preservation, demonstrating how even industrial remnants can coexist with organic elements to create something meaningful. These combinations reflect the exhibition’s deeper theme of interconnectedness, illustrating the complex relationships between human innovation and the natural world,” the write-up said.
The Present and the Past
Of Man and Nature assesses and summarizes the decades-long career of an artist who integrated the modern and the environmental in different aspects of their work, cultivating thematic points that centers the narrative of the colonized in today’s postcolonial society. And that means moving beyond technology and towards preserving the resources and beauty of the planet.
“Through his art, Junyee challenges us to reflect on our role in the planet’s ongoing narrative, urging a deeper appreciation of the connections that bind humanity to the earth and to one another,” the write-up said.
Of Man and Nature is showing at Altro Mondo Creative Space until January 11.
Photos by Elle Yap.
Related reading: Filipino Artist Junyee Makes A Stand with Felled Trees
Frequently Asked Questions
This retrospective marks only the fifth gallery exhibition in Junyee’s sixty-year career, as he traditionally prefers creating art in outdoor environments like mountains and rivers. As part of Altro Mondo’s ICONS series, the show honors his legacy as a pioneer of installation art and his mastery of blending organic materials with modern commentary.
Junyee treats wood and dry organic matter not just as medium, but as living testaments to the cycles of life, growth, and change. His work often repurposes materials like dry banana stalks, kapok pods, and seeds to symbolize a primordial creativity that resists rigid industrial standards and colonialist definitions of beauty.
‘Wood Things’ is a recreation of Junyee’s landmark installation from the 1982 Paris Biennale, which established his international reputation. Using banana stalks to create bug-like entities, the piece deconstructs colonial artistic standards by favoring personal perception and raw, abstract forms over idealized, traditional representation.
The artworks often combine industrial remnants, such as electronic boards and metal sheets, with natural elements like soot and seeds. This juxtaposition explores the dualities of progress and preservation, suggesting an ominous yet meaningful interconnectedness between human innovation and the organic world we inhabit.
The exhibition is currently being held at Altro Mondo Creative Space. It serves as a comprehensive assessment of Junyee’s storied career and is open for public viewing through January 11, 2025, offering a rare opportunity to see his gallery-scale installations in a modern setting.
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