July Round-Up

RUBANAH Underground Hub, MCAD Manila, Sa Sa Art Projects, ARTJOG, Suma Orientalis Fine Art, Museum MACAN
By Vivyan Yeo

Cecil Mariani, ‘the yellow kinesthesis’, 2023, inkbrush on paper, 60 x 80cm. Image courtesy of RUBANAH Underground Hub.

Gaze, Grace, Grief

RUBANAH Underground Hub presents ‘Gaze, Grace, Grief’, a solo show by artist, graphic designer, educator and organiser Cecil Mariani. Curated by Grace Samboh and Akmalia Rizqita, the show features over 60 drawings created with charcoal, ink, pastel, acrylic, printmaking techniques and more. They are grouped according to medium, line quality, form and colour gradations. As a result, audiences can see the consistency and growth of Mariani’s artistic practice since 2020. Rather than beginning with a preconceived intention, her works are motivated by each material's texture, transparency and density, hence exuding a sense of immediacy and freedom.

‘Gaze, Grace, Grief’ runs from 24 June to 15 July 2023 at RUBANAH Underground Hub, Jakarta, Indonesia. Click here for more information.

AMIEN, ’Ysheva’, 2023, giclee print on cotton rag paper, 90 x 37cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

The Banquet

AMIEN presents his first solo show of 11 digital paintings illustrating an alternate universe where surreal characters actively engage in a great feast. Connecting the virtual and physical art world, he created these digital works using traditional painting techniques. Producer Kelly Limerick further brings physicality to the show by inviting six other artisans to create new work in response to AMIEN’s paintings. They are printmaker Derrick Ng, woodworker Liuyang, paper conservator Mandy Tan, ceramicist Rei Minagawa, web technologist Siah and musician weish. Visitors can expect a combination of digital mediums like augmented reality, with handcrafted materials.

'The Banquet’ runs from 8 to 16 July 2023 at HEARTH by Art Outreach, Singapore. Click here for more information.

Lui Medina, ‘Untitled (Bobbio II)’, 2021, digital C-print, 112.45 x 168.8cm. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Adaptation: A Reconnected Earth

Curated by Joselina Cruz and James Tana, ‘Adaptation: A Reconnected Earth’ reflects on the present reality amidst ongoing climate change and after the planet’s pause by the pandemic. The group exhibition showcases work by nine artists, including Derek Tumala, Issay Rodriguez and Lui Medina from the Philippines, Patty Chang from the United States and Bartolina Xixa from Argentina. Incorporating digital projection, video, paper-mâché, sound installation and more, they reveal the capitalist and colonial roots of the environmental crisis. At the same time, they urge audiences to approach the planet with kindness, humanity and imagination.

‘Adaptation: A Reconnected Earth’ runs from 28 March to 23 July 2023 at Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) Manila, the Philippines. Click here for more information.

Eng Hwee Chu, ‘Let’s Face the Music and Dance’, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 132.5 x 201cm. Image courtesy of Suma Orientalis Fine Art.

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Malaysian artist Eng Hwee Chu’s third solo exhibition features seven large acrylic paintings created over the last six years. They centre on a red-skinned woman who traverses today’s absurd and conflicted reality. Surrounding her are images from global socio-political events and Eng’s subconscious, such as Chinese deities, frogs, crucifixion wounds, children and clinical spaces. According to the artist, the woman represents an earnest character whose courage takes the form of vulnerability. Wide-eyed and unflinching, she faces societal issues and internal tensions head on.

‘Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered’ runs from 10 June to 23 July 2023 at Suma Orientalis Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Click here for more information.

Martha Atienza, ‘Adlaw sa mga Mananagat (Fisherfolk's Day)’, 2022, still from single-channel video, colour, no sound, 44'13, loop. Image courtesy of the artist.

Myth in Motion

KADIST and Sa Sa Art Projects co-present a group exhibition of video art by five international artists: Martha Atienza from the Philippines, Thao Nguyen Phan from Vietnam, Ana María Millán’ from Colombia, Ana Vaz from Brazil and Connie Zheng from China. Titled ‘Myth in Motion’, the show focuses on the moving image as a creative tool to illustrate myths, which are continually reinvented and reframed. Integrating other disciplines such as drawing, video games, performance and documentary, the artworks explore real, envisioned and imagined narratives around colonialism, displacement, collective amnesia and ecology.

‘Myth in Motion’ runs from 7 June to 12 August 2023 at Sa Sa Art Projects, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Click here for more information.

Faelerie, installation view of ‘Langkah-langkah’, 2023, crochet, dimensions variable. Image courtesy of ARTJOG 2023.

ARTJOG 2023

ARTJOG 2023 returns with the theme ‘Motif: Lamaran (Motif: Proposal)’, exhibiting 73 artists chosen by invitation or from an open call programme. Jakarta-based curator and writer Hendro Wiyanto and Malaysian artist Nadiah Bamadhaj lead the curatorial team. Focusing on performative artworks, they specially invited Yogyakarta-based Mella Jaarsma to the Commissioned Artist programme. Other featured Indonesian artists include Ella Wijt, Evi Pangestu, Faelerie, Ruth Marbun and Zico Albaiquni. Audiences can also look forward to ARTJOG Kids, which presents children’s artwork and activities, the performance art programme performa•ARTJOG, and the newly installed Pusat Layanan Disabilitas (Disability Service Centre) that aims to increase accessibility for persons with disabilities. 

ARTJOG 2023 runs from 30 June- 27 August 2023 at the Jogja National Museum, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Click here for more information.

Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan, detail of ‘Here, There, and Everywhere (In-habit: Project Another Country’, 2018, cardboard and metal installation, 400 x 120 x 500cm. Installation view of 'Cosmopolis #1.5: Enlarged Intelligence,' Mao Jihong Arts Foundation in collaboration with Centre Pompidou, Chengdu, China, 2018. Image courtesy of Museum MACAN.

Somewhere, Elsewhere, Nowhere 

Museum MACAN presents a significant survey of works by Philippine artist duo Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan. Honouring over 20 years of their collaborative practice, it features drawings, sculptures and large-scale installations created since the late 1990s. These artworks utilise mundane, everyday media such as cardboard, blankets, toothbrushes and slippers–symbols of migration, movement and displacement. They speak to the exhibition’s title, ‘Somewhere, Elsewhere, Nowhere’, which aligns with the duo’s continual exploration of how travel develops and shapes individual identities.

‘Somewhere, Elsewhere, Nowhere’ runs from 24 June to 8 October 2023 at Museum MACAN, Jakarta, Indonesia. Click here for more information.