Confinement as a relatable idea across the COVID-19 pandemic situation, particularly the approach that conveys familiarity and anonymity, is the focus of the third featured exhibition at the Bulwagang Roberto Chabet (TIG Gallery), on view from September 5 to October 8, 2023.
Titled “Casual Extremities,” the exhibition features works by Bulacan-based artist Bren Almirol. It seeks to raise awareness of the COVID-19 pandemic recovery process and beyond while reflecting on the years that passed by as time progressed.
Almirol’s Casual Extremities has been selected as the recipient of the CCP Visual Arts and Museum Division (CCP VAMD)’s Exhibition Venue Grant in 2021. That year, CCP VAMD called for proposals that specifically highlighted an artist’s or a group of artists’ response to or experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Selected from the 42 proposals, the visual artist received a small production fund to make his proposal a reality.
Almirol obtained his fine arts (Studio Arts – Painting) degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman, where he received the Dominador Castañeda Award – Outstanding Thesis for his undergraduate thesis titled “Where Do We Go?”
He has been exhibiting his works in various local galleries since 2016. Almirol’s works attempt to explore mutability as a frame for post-human sensing. His works strive to operate under this premise, which takes the form of rust paintings and epoxy sculptures.
Quoting a writer’s response to Almirol’s new solo exhibition: “(Casual Extremities)…is a comedy. Like the stories of Franz Kafka, it is a grim joke about secludedness, exacerbated by the pandemic now three years past. A wall of DVD players, electric fan devoid of purpose, hangers, and other items rendered meaningless by the absurdity of being stuck indoors for months at a time. One feels compelled to change things, until one realizes that things are tragically fixed and has no other choice but to laugh about it.”
Bulwagang Roberto Chabet (TIG Gallery) is located at the third floor of Tanghalang Ignacio B. Gimenez (CCP Blackbox Theater), inside the CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City.Gallery hours are from 10am to 6pm, open daily except Mondays and holidays. Hours are extended until 10pm on days with evening performances at the Tanghalang Ignacio B. Gimenez (CCP Blackbox Thater).
