‘Endangered Visions’ brings together mindscapes of acclaimed artists

Are you an art lover craving sumptuous paintings on which to feast your eyes?

"Endangered Visions," a 41-artist exhibit curated by Cabanatuan-based artist Gromyko Semper, will be showcasing interpretations of rich mindscapes from Oct. 15 to 19 at the SMX Convention Center, SM Aura Premier, as part of the ManilART 2014 Art Fair.

Semper's work has been exhibited in France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Austria, Mexico, Portugal, the US, and the UK. In 2009, he co-edited "Imagine the Imagination: New Visions of Surrealism" with Mexican artist Hector Pineda.

He provided samples from the exhibit for the slide show below.

 

Semper also agreed to an email interview with GMA News Online:

Q: How were the paintings chosen?

 

A: Being the curator, I personally chose the works according to the theme of the show. I have only chosen pieces that are visually and symbolically strong. The show's genesis can be traced to the social networking site, Facebook. I even did the online curation there [although the group is private].

 

Q: What was the impetus behind the exhibit? Why choose the mindscape as the subject?

 

A: My original Intention was to present a review of local artists working in the imaginative styles (surreal/vionary/fantastic/outsider) genre. However, I thought that that might be a "been done before" kind of thing, and because I also work with international artists working in the same genre mentioned above—exhibiting with them, being in books with them—I thought of including a chosen few of my friends to provide a contrast, as well as a semblance to the collective "visionaries" of the local art scene. 

 

Another reason is that while co-optations of surrealism and its affinities have been prevalent—albeit misunderstood and even lacking in philosophical backbone—in our local art scene, I wanted to show a different approach, a more "primal" view of the lineage, what Andre Breton called "a view with a savage eye," a fresh look into what had been considered one of the innovative "movements" in art history, to which I believe is eternal, regardless of it being an -ism.

 

The inclusion of artists from Europe and the Americas highlights that while each artist in Endangered Visions is unique and distinctive, they are part of a broader wave defined by a rejection of formalism, conceptualism and all other “isms” in favor of raw imaginative creativity. In this, these artists resemble the symbolist movement, which arose in the decadent fin-de-siècle of the nineteenth century. 

 

The symbolists had no shared agenda beyond believing that art should only concern itself with absolute metaphysical truths that could only be described indirectly by means of suggestion, allusion and symbolism. 

 

Greek essayist, poet and art critic Jean Moréas wrote in his symbolist manifesto, published in Le Figaro in 1886: “In this art, scenes from nature, human activities, and all other real world phenomena will not be described for their own sake; here, they are perceptible surfaces created to represent their esoteric affinities with the primordial Ideals.” That would seem to be a good way of describing the artists in Endangered Visions. 

 

“Family resemblances” is an idea popularised by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. It suggests that things which may be intuitively understood or assumed to be connected by one essential common feature may in fact be connected rhizomatically by a series of overlapping similarities with no one feature being common to all. 

 

Q: The press release said this show is the first of its kind in the Philippines. What sets it apart from other exhibitions?

 

A: Endangered Visions serves one major purpose: as an analogy of the possibilities, communications and translations inherent in the way imagery is manipulated, transmitted, unconsciously inherited and reiterated. 

 

Despite the geographical distance involved, these rare and vulnerable visions converge here out of some Jungian collective reservoir of archetypal images that every human being has access to. There are no imperial centers and no provincial margins in this map where Manila is the equal of London, Berlin or New York. These visions, however, are endangered. They are ignored, ostracized, patronized, and mocked by an international art system that seldom gives them due respect. They exist outside the economic bubble of the art market and have an intrinsic truth that resists the jargon-fat pomposity of canons and critics. 

 

“The salvage paradigm” is a twentieth century anthropological term coined by historian James Clifford that describes the ideological belief that so-called “weaker” cultures must be preserved from the depredations of the jaws of the dominant (Western, global) culture. It is, perhaps, an idea that has some relevance to understanding the motivations behind Endangered Visions.

 

This is the first time the Philippines, and perhaps the world, has seen a survey of this calibre and richness. Despite the many allusions to tradition in the art, it is the twenty-first century anarcho-democratic tool of the internet which drew all the participants together, further contributing to the timeless quality of the exhibition as it transcends all boundaries. Endangered Visions, therefore, represents a convergence of people from around the world who have never met in person, but motivated by faith, trust and a common goal, have elected to cooperate in this exceptional event.

 

Q: Do you plan to have such an exhibit again next year?

 

A: Yes! Hopefully every year, with a different theme each year.

 

Q: Will any of the artists, especially the foreigners, be attending the event?

 

Unfortunately, none of the foreign artists this year will be able to attend because some coincidentally have individual solos in October, or because they are professors in various art institutes in America and Europe. — Vida Cruz & Jessica Bartolome/YA,GMA News