Amidst found objects and assemblages come forth "insight and half-truths"
Tucked away in a quiet corner of the bustling city of Pasay is the Henry Hotel compound, which attempts to preserve a few of the Manila neighbourhood's heritage houses and promote Filipino artistry. This location was chosen by Talyer 15 to be its new home.
Being run by the revered artist and delegate to the Venice Biennale 2022 Philippine Pavillion Gerry Tan, with his fellow decorated artist and Venice Biennale alum Manuel Ocampo, as well as other prominent artists today Tracie Anglo Dizon and Maria Cruz, Talyer 15 is one of the newly-formed artist initiatives making waves in today's contemporary art scene.
Originating from Marikina, this artist-run space is known for producing fine art serigraphs and collaborates with local artists to produce print editions of original works of art.
"In this day and age of digital immediacy and dissemination, Talyer 15 aims to perpetuate the traditional and experimental process of handmade printmaking," its website says.
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This October, Talyer 15 finally held its inaugural exhibition that will be on view until November 12. Curated by Osie Ocampo, the exhibition features the works of Poklong Anading, Pablo Bermudez, Dina Gadia, Jacob Lindo, Raymund Marasigan, Kaloy Olavides, Nilo Ilarde, Soler Santos, Gerry Tan, and MM Yu.
Titled "Spatial Derivatives: Recent Collages", it is an exhibition that presents collage art, its process of meaning-making, and the unique approaches of the artists behind their works.
In the exhibition notes written by Iñigo de Paula, it says "'Spatial Derivatives' is an exhibit of collage, but there's much more to it than the work it collects. Osie Ocampo gathers a roster of artists with beautifully disjointed, disparate visions of what collage is. Take MM Yu’s piece, for example. Her piece straddles collage and video art, forming a truly mixed-media tableau. Raymund Marasigan’s piece also crosses boundaries. His contribution features a sound element that references his own music practice."
The exhibition explores the collage's many elements: "cutting [as] a sacrificial act. . .assembling as a moment of rebirth." It raises the artists' encounter with choices in doing collage art—"do they elevate their source material? Do they debase it? Or do they transmute it into something totally disconnected from its original purpose?"
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By considering the artists' unique approach to collage-making, the exhibition becomes a collage of sorts. "If there’s one unifying theme in this exhibit… it’s that there is no unifying theme," says de Paula.
"Instead, the exhibit gives primacy to alchemy and the subterfuge that comes along with it. The drive to create something vital from these husks of dead ephemera creates a compelling panorama. It invites us to reassess and reassemble our own compulsions to produce lasting insight," he wrote in his exhibition notes.
Spatial Derivatives: Recent Collages runs from October 8 to November 12, 2022 at Talyer 15. The artist-run space is located at 2680 H.F.B. Harrison Street, Pasay City.
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