Detonating Lightbombs: Q & A with Zoe Peña

INTERVIEW BY JAY BAUTISTA |

Her mother loves textiles, antiques and furniture – things with a lot of character and history while her father collected ceramic jars from his travels as a pilot. Zoe Peña thought maybe in an off-tangent way, they were responsible for cultivating her strong love for visual and visceral beauty in objects and why she does what she do now. Her love for Philippine Art though was of her own kindling, deeply rooted and can we say torrid?

Among the first graduates of the Art Management program in Ateneo de Manila University in 2010, Zoe started off writing for artist’s exhibitions and for galleries in Manila. It was however in 2008 when she helped Louie Cordero and Gary Ross Pastrana put together Futuramanila in Osage Hong Kong while still in school that she thought of the possibilities of working in art there some day.

In 2011 she was able to realize this when she founded Lightbombs Contemporary, an art advisory based focusing on Philippine Contemporary Art in Wong Chuk Hang San Wai.  

Zoe has gathered 28 Filipino artists around the world for the exhibition, New Natives. In the exhibition notes, Petra Magno writes it “deals with displacement on many levels and, more importantly, the work deals with displacement outside of outsized nationalism -- a trait that afflicted and afflicts the post-colonial Filipino. The post post-colonial Filipino, the 'new native', doesn’t dismiss the problems that are still alive in the country’s politics and society. Rather, the departure from realism has necessitated a more conceptual approach to such issues, creating art with more room for interpretation, art that risks looking politically irrelevant precisely because the very notion of politics has shifted to accommodate the new century, the larger world. Here it is: the new narrative, the new native, discussing plans for a new home."

We are sharing you Zoe’s reply to our questions regarding this milestone.

DEX FERNANDEZ

Happy Schizocouple

Archival print, Arylic, Thread, Glitter, Ink

36 x 36 inches, 2014

How was Lightbombs Contemporary conceptualized? Can you tell us the thrust of Lightbombs Contemporary?
  
I started Lightbombs in 2011 as a way to converge my passions for introducing new artists to collectors. Artists I used to work with before (artists from New York, Hong Kong) would contact me and so would collectors that I worked with before. Molding it as an advisory, it was also a way to impress upon the importance of collections management and development in the primary market for contemporary art - so documentation, cataloguing, initiatives to build provenance, collection portfolios - these were things I really loved to do because it really helped me learn in depth about an artist and those that appreciate their work. 

Later on, it then grew into a solid idea of promoting Filipino artists while still maintaining that focus on collections management. I think I have always been a bit daunted to really take on Philippine art because it is what I love most. If I was going to do this, I wanted to do it properly. And so the first two years of Lightbombs was experimenting and growing because at 23, living in a new country, exploration was the only thing that made sense. Now at 26, I feel confident in knowing I can represent Filipino artists the best way I know how to which is through transparency, curiosity and passion. And this is where we are now!

RINGO BUNOAN

Island 3

Digital print on fine art photo paper

12 x 20.5 in. (framed: 29 x 34 in.)

Edition 1, 4 and 5, 2013

Was it a decision to be based in Hong Kong? Your timing seems perfect, as you were there already before these international art fairs started organizing there, is there really a market for Philippine art in HK?
 
I definitely wanted to be based in Hong Kong after I helped Louie Cordero and Gary Ross Pastrana put together Futuramanila in Osage Hong Kong. I was still in school then so I think ever since that show in 2008 it was a very conscious effort to get back to Hong Kong because I could see the possibilities for working in art there. Also, I was (am still) in love with a man that lived in Hong Kong. Life fell into place and keeps me in Hong Kong.
 
I think there is a market for anything in Hong Kong, whether big or small. These days especially Philippine art has been tipped as the next big thing and while we are aware of the buzz, it’s not a focal point. I have always done everything in life based on my gut so it’s very exciting to see things coinciding with Lightbombs’ passions. It opens new doors for everyone involved, I think.
 
How are you since you opened? Is art advising something common there and does not apply here?
 
We are a young outfit and very niche so there are challenges but at the same time we are very privileged to be able to introduce Filipino art to enthusiasts. I love seeing how a brow furrows and relaxes when looking at a work they’ve never encountered. Art advisories are more understood in Hong Kong I think in terms of numbers and anyone that is curious about protecting their investments in art.

WAWI NAVARROZA

Terrarium no. XX

30 x 20 inches

Archival Pigment Ink on Hahnemüehle

Photo Rag Fine Art Paper

Editions of 5 + 2 AP

Edition 1, signed verso, 2013

With new galleries and independent art spaces opening side by side with local auction houses in the Motherland (as you would call it), having the perspective, can you comment on the current Philippine art scene?
 
I think it’s all fantastic! I think the opening of new ventures forces everyone else to up their game. Standards in the art industry are very complicated to talk about but I think everything is moving forward and that is inspiring.
 

On New Natives, how did you choose the artists? What were you looking for in their works? Was there a criteria?
 
It truly was the most casual and organic process in the beginning – I wanted to work with artists I loved and knew. And then it turned into an opportunity to really do something significant because I realized there is so much that people have not seen or know about these Filipino artists. What we hear about are big numbers from auction houses and that’s fantastic too because they allow for some light to be shined upon Filipino contemporary art. With regards to the works in New Natives, I trust each and every artist’s creative decisions for their work, so I wasn’t working with too much of a criteria except for, I suppose, size constraints because Hong Kong is a city that is lacking in spaces ideal for art exhibitions. That aside, my job is to love and support their practice and understand it so that my passions may be shared with others.

NORBERTO ROLDAN

Sacred Is The New Profane 1 (diptych)

Assemblage with Found Objects

24 x 48 inches, 2010

If you may, can you name highlights of the show?
 
Ringo Bunoan’s Island Series,Victor Balanon’s The Kindly Ones, Michael Arcega’s A Tautology, Norberto Roldan’s Sacred Is The New Profane, Dex Fernandez’s Happy Schizocouple, Costantino Zicarelli’s Beyond Evil series, Marija Vicente’s Play Money, Felix Bacolor’s Gloat works and everything else in the exhibition, to be honest! 
 
I’m sure you will get to meet or be introduced to more Filipino artists, will New Natives be an annual event?
 
As much as I like the possibilities of an annual New Natives, I think because this venture was driven very earnestly by instinct that it would be hard to repeat this. This is a special show and if we something akin to this exhibition, I would like for the next one to have an identity that is as strong and as distinct as New Natives has.

New Natives exhibition is ongoing at Lightbombs Gallery. www.lightbombs.com

Brand Dex

 BY JAY BAUTISTA |

As the end of the year draws near to a grinding halt, one particular very visual artist came to mind with his significantly growing body of work of late. Although he temporarily retired his oil and acrylic paints in the meantime, these past two years Dex Fernandez has been constantly and consistently producing beautiful handcrafted illustrations. Not only on paper but on almost any colorful rendering with ink that can be imprinted on like bags, toys, and even directly on the walls. In one of its past annual art issues, Rogue magazine first noticed him as “raw, organic and somewhat spontaneous, Dex mixes media like a chef does his fusion thing with traditional drawing. Only with Dex the results are always fresh and he seems to have a way with place everything in one frame. The July 2011 issue of Juxtapoz magazine mentions: Operating on various layers of meaning, the practice of ornamentation in the hands of Dex Fernandez turns into a play of signs that collide to construct new associative concepts, where the third meaning subsequently produced illuminating previously unseen messages. Fernandez works with found images and material that he collages together to create fantastical figurative compositions, adding further to the mix is another skin inscribed with personal design, esoteric languages, chimera, and imaginary landscapes, all of which serve to create a labyrinth of possibilities. His interest lies on the investigation of found memories and its deconstruction through transformative appropriation.
 

A multi-media piece entitled Nothing New Day Today immediately comes to mind. Ever the flaneur, Dex walked pass him staring blankly at him. Shirtless he regaled his tattoos and for some strange reason Dex found him odd that day. Not to let the moment slip away, finding him exuding with character, Dex asked to photograph him. Of course his friendly neighbor was too carefree to even bother at all.

What would immediately impress upon the viewer is how Dex abstractly decorates and composes the images simulated with his self discovered forms and figures. Dex (on his process) “hindi lang siya pandekorasyon. Life cycle siya ng tao. Nung moment na na-spotan ko habang nakatambay at naninigarilyo, pumapasok agad sa isip ko ang cycle ng buhay natin. Sa kwento nya sa akin, dati ok ang buhay nila nung bata sila. Nung nagbinata hindi na nya natapos ang pag-aaral at maaga nakapag-asawa at nagkapamilya. Hindi natupad ang mga ilang pangarap nya at natali na sya sa gantong klaseng buhay, which is tricycle driver at hindi ganun kasapat ang kinikita para sa buong pamilya nya”

“Yung linyang My Wife is Still a Slut lagi kong naririning yan sa kapit-bahay namin. Pawang natural na lang binabanggit niya sa tuwing nag-aaway silang mag-asawa. Naiisip ko wala sila pinag-kaiba ng sitwasyon ng taong to sa kapitbahay ko sa pang-araw-araw nilang buhay. Frustrated at walang harmony sa kanila. So pinag-sama o pinag-isa ko na lang ang story nila at pinamagatan kong: nothing new today.

Knowing Dex since his student days at the Technological University of the Philippines (TUP) Manila, one notices the hard work he has put into his chosen visual style. As an inherent researcher who constantly strives to improve his art, he has made a giant leap from being 8am-5pm graphic designer drawing packaging stuff into a relevant fine artist in a disciplined contemporary mold. Although significant with oil/acrylic before finding favor in inks on paper, he is now at his very element with invitations to art residencies abroad and commissioned art projects here and there. 

Nothing new today

size: 62in x 42.5in

2011

Die, Die My Darling and Naivete, Mixed Media on Photo, 2010

 

From the streets to the walls: Rounding up the Riot

It all started with a pair of vintage posters of a girl with roses and another, a pair of girls from a bygone era, Dex stumbled upon the streets of Sta. Cruz, in one of his frequent wanderings in the shady alleys of Quiapo.

“Naiisip ko pang-short term lang ito at hindi naman all the time ay nakakabili ng ganitong klaseng material. Nag-come up ako sa photography, bakit hindi? Naiisip ko din wala pang gumagawa sa atin nito at bago sa eksena kung aaralin mo ang Philippine art history natin,” Dex looks back.

“Umiikot lang naman lahat sa history at nauulit, pero kung masaktuhan mo ang cycle na ikaw naman ang gagawa, make sure na may originality ka pa rin, at di pa rin tatalon ang transition ng work. Nagbago nga ang style ko pero kung aaralin mo mula sa mga painting at illustration ko noon, naia-apply ko pa rin naman mga teroya dito sa mixed media on photo, makikita sa mga elemento na ginagamit ko although nagbabago na rin sila.

Having admittedly moved on from the bold brushstrokes of paint to the very meticulous detailing of ink Dex adds: “Mas-masaya kasi akong nagi-illustrate ng story, mas-narrative at layered. Minsan parang painting na rin kung titignan kasi nandun na yung touch ng conceptual. Di ko alam kung tama ako pero nandun pa rin yung kaba pero yung surprise of creating something astounding. Andun pa rin ang attack ko na makulay masaya, pero sa likod nito ang mabigat na nilalaman.

hey idol how you doin'? (tattooed jc series)

size: 2ft height by 20 in.

The Vermont Pause

The Vermont Studio Center (VSC) holds the largest international residency in the United States every year since 1984. Founded by Jonathan Gregg, Frederick Osborne, and Louise Von Weise, the VSC is located in the town of Johnson in Vermont which hosts more than 50 artists and writers each month. Since January 2007, George Pearlman succeeded Jonathan Gregg as it's Executive Director and in November 2011 Dex was fortunate enough to be given full grant (round trip airfare free board and lodging) for the second try (the first attempt was only half grant) to spend more than a month there in solitude to focus on what he aspires doing best.

Unitl this day, he could still feel the expanse of his big white studio with only a chair and a table as furniture, with unlimited natural sunlight coming in. Here he got to interact with other first time artist- residents during lunch and dinner and through one-on-one studio visits.

Actually the Vermont Studio Center has been generous to upcoming and established Philippine artists. It has fostered the middle careers of Robert Feleo, Brenda Fajardo, Bernardo Pacquing, Alfred Esquillo Jr., Louie Cordero, Don Salubayba, Rodel Tapaya, and before Dex was Julio Austria. VSC has been a sort of rite of passage for contemporary young artists like him, who want to temporary escape a life of mobile phones, TV, and the humdrum of city life and do what currently fascinates them.

“Halo-halo ang mga karanasan ang nakuha ko sa Vermont. Ang makakilala ng mga bagong foreign artists at lumawak at iba't-iba ang mga pang-unawa pag-dating sa art. Iba rin ang kultura nila na kahit paano ay may idea naman ako, kaya madali ko na-adopt sila. Mas-naging open-minded ako at natuto makinig sa opinion ng bawat isa, Natutunan ko rin i-respeto pangit man o hindi ang isang idea, tipong ganun, na may reason,” Dex explaining like talking to himself.

“Nung unang makita nila ang mga pyesa ko na mga mixed media on photo, nagulat sila kasi hindi nila ine-expect na may gumagawa na pala ng ganung istilo sa Pilipinas. Wala rin silang idea kung anu-ano bang movement ng art ang nage-exist sa bansa natin, kaya nagka-interest pa sila na kilala ako at kilalanin ang mga trabaho ko at kilalanin din kabuuan ng art scene natin. Tanggap nila ang work ko dahil sa kanila bago ito,” he happily realizes.

An Auckland-based artist known for his lounge room tribalism series, Graham Fletcher was the first Dex befriended there, he adds:

“I recall now he was the first resident I met and I immediately liked
him as someone friendly and easy going. Observing Dex throughout the
residency, it was clear to me that he was an extremely talented young
artist with a bright future ahead of him. In December, we were both
invited to exhibit new work at the VSC Red Mill Gallery. The
invitation to exhibit was only extended to international residents on
fellowships, which was just the motivation we needed to complete work
in the remaining time.

Dexter was first to wake up, and many of us were amazed with Dex's confidence
and ability in creating work within a relatively short amount of time.
His energy and enthusiasm was infectious and rubbed off on many of us.
Dex produced a layered and complex show with wall drawings, video, and
paintings on large photos. It was a stunning show that combined
aspects of portraiture, street art and Catholicism in provocative and
interesting ways as well as showcasing his highly developed visual
language and sensitivity to paint.

Without a doubt it was a pleasure meeting and knowing him, and for
many of us, he made the long winter days at Vermont all the more
bearable.”

B/W

Back to Caloocan: Call, Look, Can

“Simple lang ang routine ko” replied Dex on my inquiry on how his day starts. “Paggising ko sa umaga like mga 9am, kain muna at kape. Punta sa studio saksak mp3 para pang-pagising ng diwa. Patugtog ng mga paboritong kanta sa playlist para masma-inspire. Kutkot konti sa trabaho. Maya-maya lunch na agad, ayun, after lunch mas tuloy-tuloy na trabaho hanggang gabi. Kakain na lang ako pag nakaramdam na ko ng gutom. Mga 2am na ko natatapos sa isang araw,” he wraps up.

It is also important for him to relate to his artist-friends and keep up the healthy discussion of ideas between their creative endeavors. Or Dex never misses an exhibit opening whwener he hears one. He likes to simply hang-out with artists. Dex stresses: “Pero pag may mga ayaan ng mga kaibigan di rin naman ako tumatanggi. Pampalipas din ng pagod sa buong araw. Para pag-uwi, pagtulog, kinabukasan inspire ka na ulit mag-work, masarap ka-hang out mga kapwa artist. Malaking tulong ang binibigay nila.”

Remaining disciplined and focus he affirms “Kapag kaharap ko na pala ang trabaho ko, nawawala na ko sa reality, ang focus lang ng sarili at isip ko ay nasa work ko lang. para ba kong sinasapian at wala na kong pakialam sa iba.”

Dex is pure character and an embodiment of carefree spirit. He is an epitome of parodies that somehow compliments his art. Quite slim and lanky it was quite ironic that he wore a wrestler wear during the opening of his first one man exhibition at Pablo Gallery at the Fort. In hey idol how you doin'? (tattooed jc series), shown at the SLAB, referring to images of a tattoed what is supposedly Jesus: “Ang religion ko ay respeto at pagmamahal sa kapwa. Love and respect. Ang issue ko dito ay patungkol pa rin sa idolatry. Idol ko si Jesus Christ, pero at the same time naiinis ako sa idolatry. Para sakin si JC ay isang best example ng isang pagiging rockstar. Kung may rockstar na term nung panahon na yun siguro sya yung nag-iisang totoong rockstar nun. Tinattooan ko sya kasi yun yung typical rockstar look, pero test ko rin to sa mga viewer kung paano nila tatanggapin ang isang malinis na imahe na may dumi ng art. Experimental pa rin.

Continuing his exploration with very sensual and sexual themes, in his recent show at the West Gallery, it seems Dex is somewhat intrigued at how we behave or get affected by these matters into our subconscious. He realizes further: “ang porno naman ay isang bagay na hindi pina-uusapan ng mga tao, lalo na ang mga conventional, para sa nakararami, isa itong taboo pero para sa akin normal lang itong nangyayari. Sa harap o likod man ng kamera, kung nung mga unang panahon pa lang noon ay may konsepto na ng kamasutra, bakit hindi sa ngayon panahon natin.”

May laro sa isip mula sa bagay na pinapaniwalaang pangit, masama, at hindi maka-diyos. Makikita mo dito kung panu ko paglaruan ang mga pyesa sa pamamagitan ng iba't ibang approach. Pangalawa, gusto ko din mag-laro ang isip ng mga viewer sa kung ano ba ang perception nila sa mga bagay na ito. Gusto kong mag-iwan din ng tanong sa kanila, dahil sigurado ako may sagot din sila.

The remarkable thing with Dex is whatever colorful forms and patterns he interfaces with photos he equally does with black and white illustrations. It could be persistent ticks found on every nook and cranny of toilet bowls, under jeepney leather seats or its favorite hairy haven in the fuzziness of a dog. This is his take on the Filipino diaspora “that Filipinos are survivors everywhere no matter where. Sometime they put one on the other just to make things happen. Minsan naman nagpapaka- sell out sa ibang paraan” he philosophizes.

Similar to what he did in Vermont, from time to time, Dex would revert to drawing murals as sort of leveling off to the kind of abstraction he encounters in his other visual styles. He even have it witnesses with time lapse recording that he even posts online. He feels grounded doing this. There is a sort of fleeting impermanency in the act. The thought of leaving all these after spending all those hours when one is done is such an ethereal, close to even a monastic experience for him. Last September Dex was invited in Taipei, Taiwan at the Pingpong Artspace to do a large piece he calls "B/W/TPE" (black and white Taipei): “BW kasi color scheme na ginamit kong kulay. Saka wala gaanong malalim na concepto kundi base lang din sa experience sa lugar at sa mga tao dun. Kasama yung natutunan ko culture at sub-culture nila naki-pagcollaborate din ako sa mga local artist dun. Mix and collages na sticker yung invites ko kasi gusto ko mag-stick sa mind nila yung project na ginawa ko dun. kahit alam kong katuwaan lang at walang malalim na konsept

So young yet quite unassuming when discussing his art. Dex is my fervent hope that all will be well with the art scene this coming year. 

:-) by Dex Fernandez opens at Pablo Gallery at The Fort this January 12, 2013.