Hush: Stillness in between takes

At Pablo gallery in Cubao X, it isn't unusual to find work from up and coming young artists on exhibit. This is, after all, what owners Osie Tiangco and Yo Garcia had in mind for their comfy space. "Artists can submit their concept proposals and portfolios, and then we'll take a look at them," said Garcia last Friday at the opening of one such exhibit. Brendan Goco, 36, is not exactly young, although he is young-looking. Still, he has five photos up in Pablo in his 2nd solo exhibit, titled Hush.

The artist, who is more often called Goks, is somewhat averse to titles, especially for individual pieces. "I rarely title my pieces. It just doesn't come to me that way. At most it's untitled 1, 2, 3, 4. I tried before, but it lacked for me. I get O. C. that it has to fit, and it has never fit," Goks shares. It isn't simply a matter of difficulty, however. Goks also believes that sometimes, titling a piece puts it in a box. "Of course you can't please everyone, so they can decide themselves what fits it," he says. And so his five photographs are fastened to the wall with flimsy pins without tiny white labels anywhere to distract the viewers from focusing on the photos. Not that viewers would be so easily distracted, anyway. There is something arresting about Goks' photography that makes you stop and really stare. He has a knack for nearly missed moments, the takes in between that usually escape unnoticed. It isn't surprising when Goks himself says the photos were culled according to a certain mood. "These are the nuances the models have as a person, without necessarily modeling for the camera," he explains, adding that the photos were captured when the models were aware of the camera but not exactly posing. "In some ways it's almost a documentary of sorts, because you aren't asking them to look this way or that," says Goks. The title of the exhibit itself sprung from one of the photos. Goks remembers how one of the photos jumped out. "You don't really know whether she's sleeping, or she's lying down, or just stretching. But you do know that the pose is relaxed enough, and there's this notion that either she or someone else in the room is gonna go 'hush' because they're resting," the artist explains. He describes the exhibit's mood as restive and serene. He gestures toward one photo and says, "Even in this shot where there's this movement that indicates she's either about to pose, or she just came from one, she was just still, and calm. No flurry of movement, no blurred hands." Goks was not always a photographer, although he has since traded his sketchbook for his camera. His first brush with photography was some 10 years ago when he attended a poster design workshop at the Goethe Institute, and the participants had to learn to use a camera. At that time, he was already doing photo-realistic drawings of people. "I guess it was a natural progression to shoot instead of draw, and that's when the portraits started to happen," Goks says. The way he says that his portraits started to happen captures what it is that gives his photos that quality you can't quite put your finger on. The people in his portraits always look so much like themselves, and at the same time, ethereal. As for the nudes, the artist says it isn't about being nude. He explains that when he does shoot nudes, it's neither about trying to shoot a nude, nor is it trying to shoot the female form. He primarily shoots portraits, and for him, it isn't about the state of dress, or in certain cases - undress. It's about the moment. For 'Hush,' the idea was just to get images from previous shoots that would tie in a certain mood. Goks says, "It doesn't really translate for photos that necessarily say 'this is a nude' - it's just, you're documenting something in between." - GMANews.TV Hush is ongoing until August 5 at Pablo Gallery in Cubao X. Prints are for sale at 12,000 apiece.