In 2015, artists Pow Martinez and Jigger Cruz collaborated in No Singing Allowed: a show where they explore the process of artmaking with one another. The artists created works in their unique style; Pow used a wide range of colors to enliven his cartoonish figures on canvas. Jigger applied abstract strokes layer after layer on paper, concealing the forms and colors in the background. Incorporating their styles in White Frozen Fracture and Subdivision Refinement Series 1 to 8, Pow and Jigger deliberately mark the paper, almost completely covering it with rough drawings and raw strokes of paint that extend onto the frames. Seemingly contrived opposing elements come together in a rough, raw color orgy.
(L-R, clockwise) No Singing Allowed, 2015. Installation view; Subdivision Refinement Series 6, 2015; No Singing Allowed, 2015. Installation view; Atoms of Disintegrations (detail), 2015; No Singing Allowed, 2015. Installation views; White Frozen Fracture, 2015. Courtesy of SILVERLENS.
The artists, once again, pair up, revisiting the collaboration in DOBOL TROBOL. The show’s title is given that comical Filipino wordplay, not to make fun of itself but to provide an atmosphere of amusement and welcome the viewer to take in the show’s eclectic, humorous paintings blithely. This time, the artists came together in the studios of Jigger in Paranaque and an artist village in Amadeo, Cavite, to work on each piece simultaneously. It was essential to the artists not to overthink or overwork their creations, letting the works come to life organically as they alternate applying the various paint mediums and suppressing the urge to fill every inch of the canvas and paper.
Dobol Trobol, 2021. Installation view.
Unlike their previous works from their first collaboration, parts of the canvas and paper are left untouched, providing negative space for the viewers to gaze through free-flowing lines and more discernable figures.
Unlike their previous works from their first collaboration, parts of the canvas and paper are left untouched, providing negative space for the viewers to gaze through free-flowing lines and more discernable figures.
In Cool Runnings 1 to 8, for example, the visible pigment of the paper serves as the background, and in a few, functions as the color for the humanoid characters. On the other hand, when given color by the artists, the characters take on a more amorphous or alien-like appearance— a neon-green and blue creature seemingly ready to brawl with its imaginary opponent, to a black octopus-like creature making its way to a motel, to a figure giving a thumbs-up and wearing sneakers with the Nike swoosh. As the name suggests, the imagination runs with the images found on these works on paper.
Cool Runnings 1-6 (series), 2021. acrylic on paper.
This carefree quality and infusing of styles take on another dimension when the artists move on to canvas, where they liberally employ the tactile quality of oil paint. With Pow’s paintings as the base, the figures are layered with Jigger’s thick impasto lines of multi-colored oil pigments bringing forth a sculptural depth, highlighting or concealing the figures behind it, and in turn, accentuating the overall aesthetic or subject matter. This holds especially true for the seven small canvas pieces.
Dobol Trobol, 2021. Installation view.
The depiction of the woman in My Drunken Stepmom is given orange and green glasses, putting into focus the misaligned eyes and further surrounded by a haze of blue, orange, and green. In holy trinity, holy trinity #2, and pavement—whose subject matter is religious in nature—have portions of the paintings obscured from view by the abstract lines and forms, a common practice within Jigger’s body of work. In romantic malfunction, premium fantasy, and awakening, quirkier images and lighter themes are portrayed by a pink child-like figure, an assortment of drinks and food when on a night out at the bar, and possibly a peculiar relationship between a baby chick facing away from the grey human-like figure.
The depiction of the woman in My Drunken Stepmom is given orange and green glasses, putting into focus the misaligned eyes and further surrounded by a haze of blue, orange, and green. In holy trinity, holy trinity #2, and pavement—whose subject matter is religious in nature—have portions of the paintings obscured from view by the abstract lines and forms, a common practice within Jigger’s body of work. In romantic malfunction, premium fantasy, and awakening, quirkier images and lighter themes are portrayed by a pink child-like figure, an assortment of drinks and food when on a night out at the bar, and possibly a peculiar relationship between a baby chick facing away from the grey human-like figure.
dobol trobol, 2021. oil, acrylic, and spray paint on canvas. Birds of Paradise, 2021. oil, acrylic, and spray paint on canvas.
Each artist’s discernable style is more clearly demonstrated and cohesively intertwined in the larger canvas works, dobol trobol and Birds of Paradise. In an asymmetrical explosion of color, line, and form, the 60 by 48-inch canvas is littered with Pow’s iconic creatures and beings. In contrast, Jigger lines and fills the canvas with his thick application of oil paint directly from the tube and a smattering of spray paint here and there, but still leaving space for the paint to breathe. Within the frenzy of colors and figures, the viewer can pick any point to enjoy the extensive works and be guided by the flow of images within the space.
dobol trobol, 2021. oil, acrylic, and spray paint on canvas. Birds of Paradise, 2021. oil, acrylic, and spray paint on canvas.
Each artist’s discernable style is more clearly demonstrated and cohesively intertwined in the larger canvas works, dobol trobol and Birds of Paradise. In an asymmetrical explosion of color, line, and form, the 60 by 48-inch canvas is littered with Pow’s iconic creatures and beings. In contrast, Jigger lines and fills the canvas with his thick application of oil paint directly from the tube and a smattering of spray paint here and there, but still leaving space for the paint to breathe. Within the frenzy of colors and figures, the viewer can pick any point to enjoy the extensive works and be guided by the flow of images within the space.
Throughout the creative process, the artists allowed the works to guide them and recognize when enough paint has been applied. In a sense, the artists were observers of their emerging work as they alternated their application of color. The viewer, in effect, is also taken on this observer’s journey, deciphering which parts each artist had a hand in, seeing where one artist would riff off from the other. The viewer sees a captured moment, “the artist’s DNA,” as Pow and Jigger call it, an instance that exists from that single release of creative energy. The show cultivates and boasts fun and colorful works, an amalgamation of their complementing styles resulting in delightfully peculiar figures that communicate personal, cultural, and religious overtones or simply the playful musings of two artists.
– Cecilia Dayrit
Works
About
Pow Martinez (b. 1983) is a recipient of the 2010 Ateneo Art Award for his exhibition 1 Billion Years at West Gallery, Philippines. He exhibits internationally and has worked with different media, from painting to sound. His recent exhibitions include City Prince/sses (2019) at Palais de Tokyo in Paris; Art Jakarta 2019 with Silverlens and ROH Projects; 50 Years in Hollywood (2019) at Pinto Art Museum in New York; Art Basel Hong Kong 2019 with Silverlens; WXXX (2019), West Gallery, Manila; Art Taipei 2017; WASAK! Reloaded (2016) in Arndt, Singapore; and WASAK! (2016) inArndt, Berlin. Martinez has also held a number of solo shows in major galleries in Manila, the most recent of which is Techno-Utopian (2017) in Silverlens. Early in 2018, Martinez had his first solo exhibition in Indonesia. Titled Aesthetic Police, the exhibition is an outcome of his month-long residency program at OPQRStudio in Bandung.
Martinez’s paintings belie their grotesque subject matter with the indelibly beautiful surfaces and a wide-ranging, daring use of color. Mutants, monsters, demons, deviants, and freaks lurch, sit, and appear to transform amidst weirdly lit landscapes or disintegrating urban scenarios, or emerge from a painterly graffito mess, but, as his more abstracted works insist, Martinez’s ability to render intriguing relationships between forms and surfaces ensure his works are endlessly compelling—an experience akin to a beautiful nightmare.
Pow Martinez lives and works in Manila, Philippines.
Jigger P. Cruz (b. 1984, Malabon City) is a Filipino abstract artist. He graduated with a BFA in Fine Arts, Major in Advertising at the Far Eastern University. He is a color blind artist, who explores his own color comprehension. For him, sophisticated emotions can be seen and obtained from simple forms.
His works circulate in geometric figures of swaying cadent mime. The idea of recognizable shapes and structures, living in inconsequent notions and emotions explores the affinity between moving element structures.
He has exhibited in Manila, Singapore, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, England, and the US.