Jason Montinola

Born 1979 in Philippines
Lives and works in Philippines

Engrossed with encyclopedias of paintings as a child, Jason Montinola works with his subconscious and reinvents a visual language that is deeply rooted in the past but imbibed with ,the strangeness and familiarity of today. Set in intricate frames canvases and strokes of paint, tradition is reintroduced with otherworldly imagery.

He received his Bachelor of Science in Art Education from the Technological University of the Philippines in 2003. His solo exhibitions are: Infamous at Artesan Gallery + Studio, Singapore, in December 2013; Theatre of Absurdities at OUR Art Projects MIA Art Centre in Kulala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2013; Sinister at; West Gallery, 2012; Here Lies the Painter at West Gallery, 2011 and The Black Carnival at the Big and Small Art Gallery, 2010. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions in various spaces in Manila, Negros Occidental, California, New York and Malaysia.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015 | Absent, West Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines
In The Absence Of Struggles, Jogja National Museum, Indonesia
2014 | The Sensational Painter, Secret Fresh Gallery, Philippines
2013 | Infamous, Artesan Gallery + Studio, Singapore
Theatre of Absurdities, OUR Art Projects, MIA Art Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2012 | Sinister, West Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines
2011 | Here Lies the Painter, West Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines
2010 | Black Carnival, Big & Small Art Gallery, Philippines

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2015 | Art Stage Singapore 2015, Singapore
2014 | RE:VIEW 2014, Bencab Museum, Baguio, Philippines
Relative Realities, Yuchengco Museum, Philippines
2013 | RE:VIEW 2013, Bencab Museum, Baguio, Philippines
Masterpieces, Ayala Museum, Philippines
2012 | RE:VIEW 2012, Bencab Museum, Baguio, Philippines
Anomalies, Copro Nason Gallery, Santa Monica, California, USA
Painting the Sublime, Manila Contemporary, Philippines
Taetrum et Dulce; Lux in Tenebris, Distinction Gallery, Escondido, California, USA
Taboo, Last Rites Gallery, New York City, USA
Secret Rooms and Hidden Motives, Valentine Willie Fine Art, KL Malaysia
HeadLights 2012, Valentine Willie Fine Art, KL Malaysia
2011 | Enigmatic Fantasies, Altro Mondo, Makati, Philippines
Boycotter of Beauty and the Theoretical Steroid Defiled Modernist Chicken, West Gallery, Ph.

Jason Montinola, Full Gospel, 2016, Oil on canvas, 122 x 92 cm Jason Montinola, Full Gospel, 2016, Oil on canvas, 122 x 92 cm

Exhibitions

"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