Con/Text

Tatsulok Series Angelo Magno's Tatsulok Series takes on Martial Law by divesting two of its most famous icons of their names and labeling them what the were: ang pinuno at ang musa. The refusal to depict them for what they did in those positions is also in the form that the woodcutting allows, where lines create a sameness among images. The latter is what works for these two icons relative to the third one, as the rebel is made into the every man, allowing precisely for that possibility. Cont/Text, a group exhibition, Gallerie Anna, SM Megamall, Manila, Philippines, Feb. 2013 CON/TEXT By Katrina Stuart Santiago

That art and culture and creativity are cradled by the historical milieu from which they spring goes without saying. Yet to some extent, in the Philippines, cultural production is wont to feign disengagement from socio-political events, celebrating notions of silent spectatorship, of removal. That in the process, art becomes complicit in what might be an oppressive state of affairs has become all but normal. Con/Text is a group exhibit that gathers artists who dare engage with contemporary socio-econo-politics, in the process taking to task history and its telling. And no, here artmaking is not merely about being mirror and reflecting what is happening in nation. Instead in the works of these 14 artists, context is reason for being, as it is acknowledged and articulated impetus for creativity. And diverse creativity is here. This exhibit gathers together Don Salubayba, Iggy Rodriguez, Robert Besana, Lindslee, Marika Constantino, Michelle Lim-Lee, Angelo Magno, J. Pacena II, Jepren Solis, Arvi Fetalvero, Veejay Villafranca, Rai Cruz, Vincent Aseo, and Kirby Roxas. This is to say that it cuts across creativity from design to street art, mixed media to print, abstract to social realist art. The daring is as complex and varied as each artist’s individual intervention: of shifting attention from the national telling of events, to the personal engagement with the same. Certainly it is the decision to take a critical stance that is the point of this exhibit, its insistence that the personal take precedence over mainstream public discourse that informs the national. Here, 14 artists engage with history and current events, conscious of the shift from the latter to the former, from without to within. Here, the critical stance is about being con to this text that is our common history. Here, is nation. But also here are our artists daring to intervene in its making.