THIS writer is by no means a learned painter, sculptor or even a collector of fine art but upon seeing for the first time the works of Filipino artist Luis Lorenzana, currently being featured at the Leon Gallery in Corinthian Plaza, Makati City, “surprising” and “intriguing” are the two words that immediately come to mind (and that’s putting it mildly). It’s indeed an acquired taste.
Filipino artist Luis Lorenzana is a self-taught artist whose primary schooling in public administration and a formative career working at the Philippine Senate imbued his early works with a truly distinct political awareness. He uses the country’s dark past—colored by internecine conflict—as well as our sad political present to make twisted, brutally incisive commentaries on the sorry state of Philippine affairs today.
His early body of work, created from 2005 to 2008, were kept hidden and tucked away in his studio mainly because during their first public showing, almost 10 years ago, nobody seemed to appreciate his paintings and their “deep” undertones of satire and irony. This collection, however, was meant to be rediscovered and reshown to the public, which presumably has grown and matured with their art appreciation. Even better, not only is this collection now being appreciated locally but, more important, the entirety has been bought by an international collector.
“When I stumbled upon my early works, I really didn’t have any idea what would happen to them. They were just gathering dust in my studio. Nobody wanted to buy them and I really didn’t think I would see them hanging side by side now in an exhibit. It feels quite surreal this body of work is now getting the appreciation it deserves,” Lorenzana said.
The pieces were shown to an international collector, Ken Hakuta, with a strong interest in promoting art from the Philippines to an international audience. This collector has a reputation for acquiring, archiving and exhibiting historically important bodies of work in collaboration with the world’s leading museums. When the collector first saw Lorenzana’s early works, he was shocked and emotionally overwhelmed. He had never seen such a fresh, powerfully raw and emotional display of art from one artist.
The paintings, which reminded the collector of works by Yoshitomo Nara and Jean-Michel Basquiat, resonate not only in the Philippines but also with the rest of the world.
Over the course of many months, this collector made the decision to acquire the entire body of work, referring to it as the “The Luis Lorenzana Archival Collection”. This acquisition is important because rather than having the works dismantled and dispersed among various collectors, making it almost impossible to organize for a coherent exhibition, they now remain together and, therefore, may be researched, viewed and interpreted as a comprehensive whole. The collection has attracted international attention among curators and art world professionals for its fresh aesthetic, witty social commentary and its relationship to popular culture and timely political issues.
The exhibition on this archival collection is ongoing until February 26, and and a coffee-table book is also for sale. Titled The Lorenzana Archival Collection, the book includes critical essays by Michelle Yun, senior curator of Modern and Contemporary art at Asia Society, New York; and Ryu Niimi, director of the Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Japan, and one of that country’s leading curators of international contemporary art. Fukuoka Prize winner Ambeth R. Ocampo adds historical context to the collection’s anchor works that feature Filipino heroes; and included is a biographical essay by Lisa Guerrero Nakpil. The book is published by International Arts and Artists, a leading nonprofit art touring organization in Washington, D.C. Its founder and president, David Furchgott, was in Manila during the exhibit opening earlier this month, as well as Michelle Yun, the book’s author. The book will be exclusively sold at Leon Gallery and online at Artbooks.ph.
The execution of the exhibition is carefully and artistically well-planned. It has always been the practice of Lorenzana to use ornate frames that will complement his artwork.
The presentation is a visual feast as even the frames are also creatively painted on.
The main purpose of this exhibit is to give people, seeing these works for the first time, direct access to Lorenzana and learn of how he began as a struggling artist: what he felt, how he expressed his feelings through his art, and how it demonstrated his vision and voice then, from his own personal perspective, in ways that were ahead of their time. Lorenzana deems these as an eye-opener and reference point from where he began, and the direction he is now heading to as a respected artist.
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The exhibition is on view until February 26 at Leon Gallery, Corinthian Plaza, Paseo de Roxas corner Gamboa Street, Legazpi Village, Makati. Gallery hours are from 10 am to 6 pm Monday to Saturday.