Cityscape architecture is very often an abstractionist’s dream. The confluence of shapes, forms, lines and colors merges with the organic “vibe” of the city to create a powerful image—one that any abstractionist would seize upon with relish.
Busy urban centers come alive through impressive techniques, and that same sense of dynamism is something that reverberates through each canvas. It is a youthful, and high-energy form of visual art, and one that permeates through a skillful abstractionist’s practice.
One such abstractionist is Camille Ver. Through her investigations into urban landscapes, she has created a distinct oeuvre that intersperses abstract cityscape motifs with tec pen lines that have become her distinguishing feature.
Following the success of her show at Galerie Stephanie in Libis, Ver revisits the abstract sensibilities invested in her consideration of urban landscapes in “URBN 2.0,” which opens at Galerie Raphael on June 19.
Though she uses urban landscapes as a reference point, Ver doesn’t focus on a particular location. Rather, her works reflect an archetype of cityscapes. She takes her audience through a a collage of familiar sites that have no bearing on anything that actually exists—but bears familiarity with an idealized version of cityscapes.
This conceptual nous is very similar to another abstractionist—that of National Artist Arturo Luz and his imagined cityscapes that pay tribute to the famous archeological sites at Borobudur and Angkor Wat. The difference is that Ver is thoroughly contemporary in her approach.
Though there are often anecdotal references to older structures—and Ver does consider incomplete and crumbling buildings aesthetically attractive—the intent is to reconstruct the emotional character that only exists in urban locations.
To achieve this, she creates a broader composition of oil which is then layered with lines drawn in with a tec pen, bringing detail and order to an otherwise blurred form. These lines could represent the hard lines of an actual cityscape-created in part by a mixture of power cables, laundry lines, telephone poles, and the steel bars of a construction site.
In Ver’s oeuvre, however, they represent a framing element, allowing viewers to contextualize the compositions as works exploring the urban perspective whilst remaining true to the sensibilities of abstraction within the realm of visual art—highly reminiscent of, say, Wassily Kandinsky’s works.
URBN 2.0 runs until June 28 in Galerie Raphael. It is at Unit 2C-06, 2/L, The Piazza, Serendra Mall Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. Call 8563034. Visit www.galerieraphael.com.ph.