Words and Images Galleria Duemila
Editing The Kanto Team
What happens when the familiar becomes strange, and the predictable turns chaotic?
This question is at the heart of Villanueva Jr.’s latest solo exhibition, Now it’s a little upside-down at Galleria Duemila, which opens with a reception on Saturday, August 10, from 4 to 9 p.m. Known for his ability to weave complex themes of deception and trickery into his art, Villanueva Jr., a three-time winner of the Philippine Art Awards, invites viewers to engage with his visually striking pieces and to decipher the messages encoded in its neo-geometric abstraction.
When the trial stops, acrylic and oil on canvas, 48.07 x 36.05 in., 2024 Accepting our imperfections, acrylic and oil on canvas, 48.07 x 36.05 in., 2024
Artist Miles Villanueva, providing insight into his father’s work, shares that the show recalls how deception and chaos have been used as strategies throughout history. His works echo the dazzle camouflage of ships and planes during World War I and II, which disrupted enemy targeting with bold, misleading patterns. Cris’s endless curiosity about the mechanics of various disciplines—music, literature, film, painting—fuels this exhibition. Now it’s a little upside-down is a visual disruption, much like a razzle-dazzle. It inverts traditional thoughts and arrangements, blending elements from nature and the digital realm to reflect a vast repository of historical and conceptual knowledge.
And one just keeps on going, acrylic and oil on canvas, 48.07 x 48.07 in., 2024 Can it be all so effortless, acrylic and oil on canvas, 24.03 x 24.03 in., 2024
Key pieces from the collection include Brain Tease, a large-scale wooden toy puzzle, and Skip Language, a driftwood sculpture echoing transportation modes from Real, Quezon, exemplify Villanueva Jr.’s interactive approach. These works invite viewers to deconstruct his creative process, transforming them from passive onlookers to active participants in a cerebral game of visual puzzles.
In his exhibit statement, Cris Villanueva Jr. muses, “Now it’s a little upside-down represents a form of disruption—my vetting process. It’s a neo-geometric abstraction with a postmodern twist, incorporating three-dimensional works as a result. These pieces serve as a gestural response to the images in my historical, ideological, and visionary archive. Perhaps it’s an opportunity for me to tell this story—a visual narrative that has previously eluded my focus.”
Selections from The color of air 1-36 series, acrylic and oil on canvas, 12.02 x 12.02 in., 2024
Now it’s a little upside-down runs from August 10 to September 7, 2024, at Galleria Duemila, 210 Loring Street, Pasay, 1300 Metro Manila. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Admission is free. •
For more information, email at gduemila@gmail.com or art@galleriaduemila.com, or call +63 2 8831 9990 or +63 908 307 9972.
