Mind-Awakening Beat Exhibit At Lopez Museum
At the first glance on the masterpieces of young artists Nikki Luna and Ernest Concepcion, I know there’s some sort of resistance and confrontation.
But interestingly, their works are not just to present defiance but more of sending a great message of achieving even the impossible and advocating action to effect change.
And this is also expressed on the Beat exhibit curatorial note:
There is a deliberately forlorn and somber tone to this outing. Images of the prostrate and crestfallen easily evoke a stance of defeat, a succumbing to odds. But Beat also linguistically traverses a more mobile positionality, possibly one that suggests a desire to plod on in sheer resilience or blind resolve. By staying on in the present tense rather than as the more definitive ‘beaten’, this exhibition also conscripts the energies of artists Nikki Luna and Ernest Concepcion to effect stagings of confrontation with the difficult, the resistant, and even the impossible.
Nikki Luna’s Precious and Fertile
Hanging are picket line fences made of bone china. Luna made this as to symbolize how some group of people fight for their cause, especially on land disputes and against human rights violations.
The soil below represents her belief on the value of the land and her support to farmers against land grabbing and mining. The video as a background is from Hacienda Luisita farm.
See more of Luna’s works:
7 Lupa (Soils from Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental)
Azucacera (7 pcs of brown and 7 pcs of white half diamond shape made of sugar)
Embellished Earth (Rice and Munggo topped with 14k Gold)
Luna is an advocate of human rights and has taught people in Mindanao with her art expertise. She believes that people can express their advocacy through artworks, without using violence.
Who is Nikki Luna?
Nikki Luna is an artist and the founder of StartArtproject, a non-profit organization aimed at providing art workshops to women and youth victims of armed conflict and human rights violations in the Philippines. Her works have been shown locally and abroad Milan Italy and Singapore. Her women advocacy is an endeavor she is currently studying in-depth in her Masters in Women and Development Studies in UP.
Ernest Concepcion’s Challenge to Felipe Hidalgo
Do you find this wall artwork weird? This is how Concepcion visualized and actually challenging the artist Felipe Hidalgo, as the super multi-dimensional time bandit.
Concepcion is a creative fan of movement and connection. His works mostly narrate stories.
This is a continuation of Concepcion’s wall artwork on Hidalgo.
Concepcion even drew on the wall to apparently, extending Hidalgo’s La Derrota De Limahong painting.
And oh, he has an avid fan here. Looks like actress Angel Aquino loves art too.
Concepcion can’t get enough of challenging Hidalgo’s Bustamante painting.
Who is Ernest Concepcion?
He grew on a family of doctors but he seriously took up art, inspired by his older brother who’s gifted with artistic hands too and by his friends.
He believes in painting moving images as a powerful way of connecting communities.
Explore more about their works by visiting the Beat exhibit at Lopez Memorial Museum and Library until October 13, 2012. For more details, follow them on Twitter or be their fan on Facebook.
An Inspiration
I practiced painting during my younger years. I am not sure if I can call myself as an artist but being so, it is more than just drawing what you want to express.
Exploring Luna and Concepcion’s artworks has made me realized that art is making a statement. It can be use as a tool on advocating something worthy for the society.
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