The painting exhibit “Atienza-Balboa,” featuring the works of young contemporary artists Jaime Rafael “JR” Atienza and Kevin Balboa, is on going in the Arts Gallery Asia at 2224 Don Chino Roces Ave. (formerly Pasong Tamo) and Don Bosco St., Makati City.
Atienza’s subjects are women and the environment. Balboa deals with pop art, which he considers “reflective of the present time.”
Atienza says his works are influenced by the 19th-century Austrian artist, Gustav Klimt, whose primary subjects are the female body and landscapes.
While Klimt’s artworks are marked by “frank eroticism,” Atienza says his paintings focus on the beauty of women, which could be gleaned from “Curio Grimalkin” and “Luminary Gaze.”
Atienza says his works are “contemporary” in terms of composition, content, color and use of mixed media. But he says he employs classic brush strokes and loves to mix mediums. Result would be a collage of different elements in nature—leaves, images of animals and people .
Balboa says he is influenced by Chris Mars, a contemporary American artist/musician whose art is characterized by “nightmarish landscape, grotesque and distorted figures.”
Balboa’s “That Afternoon’s Hiding Post” and “Shortness of Breath,” feature distorted images of women and an old man, set in a nightmarish landscape.
Balboa puts in about 5-6 layers for the background before applying his design, then puts in another 2-3 layers to achieve his desired result.
Atienza is a Fine Arts graduate of the Technological University of the Philippines. Balboa is a product of University of Santo Tomas.
Both artist will display five huge paintings each (4’ x 8’, 6’ x 4’ and 4’ x 4’).
Gallery-owner Bong Versoza says the works indicate a growing maturity of the two young artists.
Exhibit runs until May 19. Free Admission. Call 0917-8943888.