CROSSOVER: Four Filipino Pop-Surrealists Collaborate in A Group Exhibition
Four of the country’s leading contemporary art galleries, Art Underground, Galerie Stephanie, Village Art Gallery, and Vinyl on Vinyl, come together for a joint curation project called: Crossover. It is a group exhibition which will present a variety of paintings and sculptural works by pop-surrealists Mr. S, GNCH, Reen Barrera, and SAIS.
Crossover will be on view in four concurrent shows beginning November 14 at Vinyl on Vinyl in Makati City, followed by the opening at Galerie Stephanie in Mandaluyong City on November 15; Village Art Gallery in Muntinlupa City on November 17; and Art Underground in San Juan City on November 18. The joint project will wrap up on November 30.
The group exhibition gathers the country’s leading pop-surrealists in contrasts and conversations. The crossover of SAIS, Mr. S, GNCH, and Reen Barrera, takes place in four different spaces—four different settings—each offering a different immersive experience where ideas are allowed to meet and expand the universes crafted by each of the artists. From Mr. S’ dreamscapes and SAIS’ starry- and wide-eyed portraits to the playful reimaginings and ruminations of childhood and adulthood of GNCH and Reen Barrera, onlookers are invited into curious realms and narratives. Storylines twist and converge while new ones emerge in a gallery-to-gallery, practice-to-practice exploration of world-building, character dynamics, and wondrous interiorities.
Cavite-based SAIS joins the crossover as a part of Art Underground. A graduate of Fine Arts from the Technological University of the Philippines-Manila, he has been exhibiting works since 2020. Working primarily with charcoal and graphite, he is most known for his childlike portraits featuring a wide-set wide-eyed boy. These monochromatic representations convey the artist’s innermost thoughts, often evoking a sense of both yearning and wonder.
Galerie Stephanie signed artist Mr. S is most known for his dreamy scenes of his eponymous character roaming the wild with feline familiars. Starting off as a graphic designer and street artist under the moniker ‘Mister Sasquatch’, the artist remains a vivid storyteller and world-builder, particularly inspired by both the aesthetic sensibilities and philosophies of Japan’s feudal era. Such influences have come to define his works’ contemplative quality and use of magic realism in dealing with contemporary themes.
Represented by Village Art Gallery, Gen Lazaro, best known as GNCH (pronounced ‘jen-ich’), is a self-taught artist with a background in illustration and design. A skilled draughtsman, initially working on concept art for film and video games, GNCH—a stylized compounding of his name and the Nihongo word ‘ichi’ meaning ‘one’—eventually went on to explore and train in gouache and various digital mediums. His signature surreal figures are reminiscent of childhood cartoon characters, rendered in forms and settings that tread the line between playful and unsettling. Graphite remains his medium of choice, harkening back to his early days as an artist.
Born in France and raised in the Philippines, Vinyl on Vinyl artist Reen Barrera’s artistic inclinations were evident early in childhood. The artist had then begun with repairing wood carvings at church, which grew into an interest in collecting found materials to create toys and figurines. Today, Barrera’s works make fond references to such and like childhood memories, while incorporating vernacular phrases, and streetscapes. Tinged with nostalgic longing, his figures are most recognizable for their nonchalant expressions which contrast with the artist’s signature expressionistic render, as he continues to draw inspiration from children and their carefree dispositions.
Crossover runs from November 18 at Art Underground, November 15 at Galerie Stephanie, November 17 at Village Art Gallery, and November 14 at Vinyl on Vinyl, through November 30.
RELATED READ: Who Are We in This Vast Universe: The Pale Blue Dot Exhibition
Photos courtesy of the galleries
