Louie Cordero

Born 1978 in Manila, Philippines
Lives and works in Manila, Philippines

There is always an air of ambiguity in the world created by Louie Cordero:  a  world that is often described as bizarre or riotous, and sometimes even grotesque or abject. In his paintings, sculptures, and installations Cordero uses anatomical innards, muscle tissue, veins, and eyeballs to construct a new, unclassifiable species that has evolved through forms, shapes, and patterns, and then juxtaposes them with iconographies from the current social milieu: the images of Catholicism, the relics of the so-called Third World (Southeast Asia and Africa), the air- brushed panels of the Manila jeepney, the stuntmen of lowbrow Filipino films, the primitivism of native crafts, and the localized narratives of Western Popular culture—from Hollywood imagery in shop signs and graffiti to the sanctification of American pop songs in run-down videoke bars.
Multiculturalism,  kitsch,  and  pastiche have become trademarks for Filipino art, given that the country is not only a set of different islands with different dialects and traditions, but also a former colony of different imperial forces, starting with the Spaniards in the late sixteenth century to the Japanese in the middle of the twentieth century. It seems as if the average Filipino, who has been swamped to this day with a smorgasbord of influences, suffers from a certain horror vacui—a need to fill up the spaces because the nation itself is crowded with unresolved histories.

Most of the artists preceding Cordero portrayed the energy of Manila through its socio-historical context, attempting with their paintings to expose political oppression by using symbolisms of poverty, imperialism, and consumerism, usually concocted in a gloomy or satirical atmosphere. Cordero, however, deviates from these templates to produce his own rendition of the city, celebrating it in bright, neon colors with depictions of its uber- mundane, almost absurdist moments.
In terms of composition, in recent years Cordero has slowly deviated from a purely figurative and symbolist portrayal to more constructivist and abstract forms. The result is a new category of images that is entirely his own: a juxtaposition of grotesque, narrative elements with cubist and constructivist forms, a combination of primitivism and formalism, a hodgepodge of whimsical dreamscapes and tropical landscapes.
Through his art, Cordero continues to assimilate the ways of the naïve, the native, and the lowbrow together with the sensuous allure of affluence and progress. His characteristic mélange of forms, uncategorized slew of shapes, and snippets from real life become the symbiosis of good and bad taste, of sanctity and irreverence, and of humor and seriousness, which can be seen as an apt reflection of the current state of Filipino society. For as much as these ventures may result in what most of us would call difficult and sometimes shocking imagery, in Cordero’s world these are the succinct narratives of memory and fantasy, and a faithfulness to the history of his motherland.

CV
Education
2001  Bachelor of Fine Arts, Major in Painting, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2015 Golden Rule, Bangkok University Gallery, Thailand Warslime, Blanc Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines
2014  Colour Combo Phantasma, West Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines
Through Mind And Back, Finale Art File, Makati City, Philippines
2013  Smog for Rainbows, Richard Koh Fine Art, Singapore
2012  Welcome Spiritualist Camp, West Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines
2011  Meta, Blanc Peninsula, Makati City, Philippines
Slow Education, MO_Space, Taguig City, Philippines
Misprint Messiah (with Carlo Ricafort), DAGC Gallery, Makati City, Philippines
2010  Sacred Bones, Jonathan LeVine Gallery, New York, USA
Soft Death, Osage Gallery, Hong Kong, China
2009  Soft Death, Osage Gallery, Singapore
2008  Pilgrimage to Semina Mountains, West Gallery, Mandaluyong City, Philippines
Absolute Horror, MO_Space, Taguig City, Philippines
Death Scream (with Mariano Ching), Blanc Compound, Mandaluyong City, Philippines
2007  DELUBYO, Giant Robot, Los Angeles, USA
2006  Neo-gativland, Magnet Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines
Synthetic Fury, Finale Art Gallery, Mandaluyong City, Philippines
Bad Tastes, West Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines
East Meats West (with Heyd Fontenot), Art Palace, Austin, Texas, USA
2005  And the World Smiles with You, Theo Gallery, Makati City, Philippines
Pathology for Boredom, Green Papaya Art Projects, Quezon City, Philippines
Black Boxes and Other Devices, Finale Art Gallery, Mandaluyong City, Philippines
Adobo Empire (with Jordin Isip), Riviera Gallery, New York, USA
2004   If Assholes Could Fly, This Place Would Be An Airport, Theo Gallery, Makati City, Philippines
Motherlode (with Robert Gutierrez), 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, USA
2003   Republic, Red Mill Gallery, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont, USA
Deluxe, Finale Art Gallery, Mandaluyong City, Philippines
2002   Torts and Damages, Green Papaya Art Projects, Quezon City, Philippines
2001   Transmissions, Finale Art Gallery, Mandaluyong City, Philippines
Knowing Evil Will Prevail, Surrounded By Water, Mandaluyong City, Philippines

Selected Group Exhibitions

2015   Open Sea, Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon, France
Black and White Paintings and Drawings, BenCab Museum, Baguio City, Philippines
Imaging Philippine Flora: 1877 to the Present, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines
2014   Drawn to Scale, UP Vargas Museum, Quezon City, Philippines
2013   Manila Vice, Musée International des Arts Modestes, Sète, France
Revealing Signs of the Present, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines
2012   Panorama: Recent Art from Contemporary Asia, Singapore Art Museum
2011   Maximum City: Survive or Escape?, 14th Jakarta Biennale, National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta
BISA: Potent Presences, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines
Open House, 3rd Singapore Biennale, Singapore Art Museum
2008   The World in Painting, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Bulleen, Australia
2006   Fuzzy Logic, Lopez Memorial Museum, Pasig City, Philippines
Metropolitan Mapping, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, China
A Tale of Two Cities: Busan/Seoul, Seoul/Busan, Busan Biennale 2006
2004   Wild Imagination: The Grotesque Illustrated, Lopez Memorial Museum, Pasig City, Philippines
2002   Faith + the City: A Survey of Contemporary Filipino Art, Metropolitan Museum of Manila,
Philippines; Chulalongkorn, University, Bangkok, Thailand, et al. (traveling exhibition)
2001   Surrounded, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Pasay City, Philippines
2000   Signing at Kataga: An Exhibition of Text and Images, UP Vargas Museum, Quezon City, Philippines
Faith + the City: A Survey of Contemporary Filipino Art, Earl Lu Gallery, LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, Singapore
Panimula, Ayala Museum, Makati City, Philippines

Louie Cordero, Pattern for Life's Never Ending Search for utopia, 2014, Automotive paint, fiberglass, 228 × 183 cm, CORD0001 Louie Cordero, Pattern for Life's Never Ending Search for utopia, 2014, Automotive paint, fiberglass, 228 × 183 cm, CORD0001

Exhibitions

A3 PRESENTS: WASAK! Filipino Art Today

December 8, 2015 – January 30, 2016

Opening | Saturday | December 5, 2015, 12 - 6 pm

A group exhibition curated by Norman Crisologo and Erwin Romulo across two locations in Berlin at:

ARNDT Berlin Potsdamer Strasse 96 (Tue - Sat, 11am - 6pm)

ARNDT ART AGENCY A3 Fasanenstrasse 28 NEW PREMISES (Wed - Sat, 12 - 6pm)

Exhibiting artists: Zean Cabangis, Annie Cabigting, Buen Calubayan, Louie Cordero, Jigger Cruz, Marina Cruz, Kawayan De Guia, Alfredo Esquillo, Ian Fabro, Nona Garcia, Robert Langenegger, Pow Martinez, Manuel Ocampo, Alwin Reamillo, Norberto Roldan, Kaloy Sanchez, José Santos III, Rodel Tapaya, Tatong Torres and Ronald Ventura.

A publication has been published by DISTANZ Verlag to accompany the exhibition.

View the complete publication HERE.

The underlying motivation of the exhibition and accompanying publication in Berlin is to shed light on the fascinating contemporary art landscape in the Philippines. WASAK! explores Filipino contemporary art, in the hope of providing an emblematic contextual compendium for western audiences. Signaling the first instance of its kind, WASAK! thus offers snapshots of current artistic practices from the Philippines, uniting a selection of its leading protagonists across generational lines, genres, and media.

All of the 19 participating artists included have witnessed the social and political upheaval of Philippines’ recent history. Most of these artists spent their maturation grappling with local events that have transpired such as: natural disasters like earthquakes and floods; political unrest in the form of coup d’état and calls to presidential impeachments; political ineptitude in the form of corruption and briberies; and longstanding bouts with poverty and urban overpopulation. This selection of artists have nurtured, or at least, directed their ideas into the reality that is Manila, the nation’s capital, from where most of the country’s bizarre undulations spring.

Although much of their work is inspired by their own localities, these artists continue to seek their place among the rest of the world. Through the jumble and mess of their own ground zero—which is a country of broken histories, a nation of lush influences, and a people constantly having to live despite of something—their art continued to become, individually, more diverse and yet collectively, as a single exploded view. ‘Wasak’ is a Filipino word that means “in ruins.” When used in the vernacular, it means “wrecked,” or as a more encouraging interjection—it can also mean “going for broke.” It is a term that signals a hazard.
In this field of scattered landscapes, of broken narratives and loose continuity, what then could be ascribed as Philippine Art? The artists represented in WASAK! have come from the different potholes this gap has created, which explains the varying degrees how their work tries to explain not only a locality, but their own place in art history.

In a 1979 essay, one of the most influential Filipino art critic, Leo Benesa, asked the question: “What is Philippine in Philippine Art?” Knowing how any kind of art from any other place cannot escape the influence of the Western canon, he settled with a more optimistic response in implying that the intention of the artist to paint well is what makes them Filipino: “Painters first, and bearers of message, second,” he concluded. The majority of the artists in the show have chosen painting as their primary medium, with a few exceptions that have dealt primarily with assemblage and sculpture. In looking at their paintings, trying to find out what special place they hold, we can follow Benesa’s prescription—to look at the form first, and then deal with the message later. To try to understand, before anything else, that their intention is to do something which is relevant for them, before handing out a prognosis that casts them as representatives of an aesthetic sensibility, a socio-historical period, or worse, a movement.

The 19 artists covered in WASAK! provide us with an opportunity to experience the different directions they have wandered into—a chance to view a small course of history that is finding its way into the arts.

ARNDT Berlin
Potsdamer Strasse 96
10785 Berlin
info@arndtberlin.com
+49 30 2061 3870

ARNDT ART AGENCY A3
Fasanenstrasse 28
10719 Berlin
contact@arndtartagency.com
+49 30 2061 3870

PRESS

Randian | WASAK! | 7 April, 2016

Coconuts Manila | There’s an exhibit of PH contemporary art in Berlin and it’s called…'Wasak' | 15 January 2016

Zitty Berlin | „Wasak!“ zeigt Bilder aus einem katholischen Asien | 14 January 2016

Art Radar | WASAK! Filipino Art Today at ARNDT Berlin | 12 January 2016

Kunst und Film | WASAK! Filipino Art Today | January 2016

Artsy | ARNDT Explores the Complexities of Filipino Art in New Berlin Gallery Space | 12 January 2016

Financial Times | The Art Market: All about agencies | 18 December 2015

Blouin artinfo | ARNDT Opens new Berlin Venue With Filipino Art Shows | 11 December 2015

Taz | Kunstraum | Land der Brüche - Kunst aus den Philippinen | 10 December 2015

Artnet | Arndt Gallery Opens New Upmarket Location in West Berlin | 3 December 2015

Inquirer | Filipino Art Exhibit WASAK! to open new gallery in Berlin  | 26 November 2015

Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT Berlin, 2015  Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT Berlin, 2015
Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT Berlin, 2015 Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT Berlin, 2015
Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT Berlin, 2015 Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT Berlin, 2015
Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT Berlin, 2015 Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT Berlin, 2015
Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT Berlin, 2015 Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT Berlin, 2015
Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT Berlin, 2015 Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT Berlin, 2015
Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT Berlin, 2015 Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT Berlin, 2015
Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT ART AGENCY (A3), 2015  Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT ART AGENCY (A3), 2015
Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT ART AGENCY (A3), 2015  Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT ART AGENCY (A3), 2015
Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT ART AGENCY (A3), 2015  Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT ART AGENCY (A3), 2015
Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT ART AGENCY (A3), 2015  Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT ART AGENCY (A3), 2015
Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT ART AGENCY (A3), 2015  Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT ART AGENCY (A3), 2015
Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT ART AGENCY (A3), 2015  Installation view, WASAK! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT ART AGENCY (A3), 2015
"WASAK! Reloaded", installation view at ARNDT Fine Art, Singapore "WASAK! Reloaded", installation view at ARNDT Fine Art, Singapore

WASAK! Reloaded

Group Exhibition of Filipino Art Today

27 August - 8 October 2016

Opening | Saturday | August 27, 2016, 12 - 5 pm | ARNDT Fine Art, Singapore 

WASAK! Reloaded  is a group exhibition exploring the Filipino contemporary art landscape and is accompanied by a major hard copy publication WASAK! Filipino Art Today published by European publisher DISTANZ Verlag. The show is a continuation of the well-received group exhibition presented in Berlin in 2015, and will travel to Gazelli Art House in London in 2017.

Exhibiting artists include: Zean Cabangis, Louie Cordero, Jigger Cruz, Marina Cruz, Kawayan De Guia, Alfredo Esquillo, Ian Fabro, Robert Langenegger, Jason Montinola, Pow Martinez, Manuel Ocampo, Norberto Roldan, Kaloy Sanchez, Rodel Tapaya and Ronald Ventura.

The underlying motivation of WASAK! and its accompanying publication is to shed light on the fascinating contemporary art currently being produced in the Philippines. By offering an overview of Filipino contemporary art, WASAK!  aims to provide an emblematic contextual compendium. Uniting a selection of leading protagonists across generational lines, genres, and media, the exhibition presents snapshots of current artistic practices from the Philippines.

The 17 participating artists have witnessed the social and political upheaval of Philippines’ recent history. Most of these artists spent their maturation grappling with local events that have transpired such as: natural disasters like earthquakes and floods; political unrest in the form of coup d’état and calls to presidential impeachments; political ineptitude in the form of corruption and briberies; and longstanding bouts with poverty and urban overpopulation. This selection of artists have nurtured, or at least, directed their ideas into the reality that is Manila, the nation’s capital, from where most of the country’s bizarre undulations spring.

Although much of the artists´ work is inspired by their own localities, these artists continue to seek their place among the rest of the world. Through the jumble and mess of their own ground zero—which is a country of broken histories, a nation of lush influences, and a people constantly having to live despite of something—their art continued to become, individually, more diverse and yet collectively, as a single exploded view. ‘Wasak’ is a Filipino word that means “in ruins.” When used in the vernacular, it means “wrecked,” or as a more encouraging interjection—it can also mean “going for broke.” It is a term that signals a hazard.

In this field of scattered landscapes, of broken narratives and loose continuity, what then could be ascribed as Philippine Art? The artists represented in WASAK! have come from the different potholes this gap has created, which explains the varying degrees how their work tries to explain not only a locality, but their own place in art history.

The 17 artists covered in WASAK! provide us with an opportunity to experience the different directions they have wandered into—a chance to view a small course of history that is finding its way into the arts.

Press Contact:
Pey Chuan Tan
peychuan@arndtfineart.com
+65 9111 3203

Venue:
ARNDT Fine Art Pte Ltd
Gillman Barracks
47 Malan Road #01-25
Singapore 109444
Tel. +65 67340775
Opening hours: Tues - Sat 11am- 7pm, and by appointment

Press:
Blouin ARTINFO | Filipino Artists Present "WASAK! Reloaded" at ARNDT Fine Art | July 21, 2016

Blouin Art Info | Filipino Artists Present ‘WASAK! Reloaded’ at ARNDT Fine Art | July 21, 2016