Love is, and other poems form another time

Poetry by Dayang Yraola

Paintings by Angelo Magno


Canvas Gallery,  Quezon City, Philippines,

June 8, 2016

 “Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.”

– Leonardo Da Vinci

Angelo Magno and Dayang Yraola have been friends since their college days in UP, Diliman under the Art Studies Program. This exposed them to other artistic  disciplines such theater, and creative writing.

After college and graduate school, both have pursued their own paths. Dayang is currently pursuing her Ph.D. and curates multimedia projects locally and abroad.  Angelo teaches in college while continuing his art practice.

The poems presented in this exhibition were written more than a decade ago. As one of their professors put it, the poems express a juvenile spirit.  They speak of could be’s and must be’s, of afterthoughts, of unrequited love, of the little prince, of the goat that ate the flower, of imagined places, and of homage to anonymous characters. In this exhibition, Angelo reinterprets the poems through paintings and objects.

Some of the poems were selected from the book, "Truth About Accepted Lies" (2010), featuring poems written by Yraola and illustrations by Magno, capturing narratives from a different time. Despite both artists pursuing different directions, their works validate their strong and unconditional intellectual and creative bond -- different yet mutual. This exhibition is a celebration of that friendship.

 ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Dayang Yraola is a curator. She is currently based in Hong Kong as a PhD candidate in Cultural Studies.  She is a grantee of the Asian Cultural Council in 2012 and a recipient of research and creative grants from The Japan Foundation from 2012-2015. Dayang is an independent curator working with artists from The Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.  Her curatorial focus is in process as media (archival and laboratory), technology as media (analogue, digital, mechanical, electronic), and senses as media.

www.dayangyraola.com

Angelo Magno received his bachelor’s degree in Art Studies at the University of the Philippines in Diliman in 2000 and recently finished his masters in Fine Arts in the same university. He is an officer of the Association of Pinoy Printmakers (formerly known as the Philippine Association of Printmakers or PAP). He also teaches at the Asia Pacific College (APC), School of Multimedia Arts, iAcademy, and St Scholastica’s College in Manila.  He has exhibited his works in the Philippines, Malaysia, USA and Indonesia.

avmagno.blogspot.com

Fairytale

I will marry you when the moon is all sullen.

Grey.

 With a hint of acid green.

 And smell of animal carcass.

Moths. And maggots.

Feasting on what was left of the red fresh meat.

I will marry you when the ends of earth

Is about to meet its beginning.

 Painting pink over pink.

 And blooming ocean breeze,

Bursting  like orange juice in the morning.

Neither my brand of fairytale.

What is  important is invisible

Apologies, on behalf of those who have not read “The Little Prince” or just pretend that they did

For you should be responsible

For those you saved

For those you cared for

For those you tamed

For it is that

The distinguishes a boy

From the prince

Or the fox

From his pack

Or his rose

From the others

For what is important

Is invisible to the eye

Not because one is blind

It is just buried in the mind.

 Love is, and other poems from another time.