Following closely on his exceptionally well-received first solo exhibit, Joy Rojas II holds his second solo, “Material Maker,” starting April 15 at Pinto Art Gallery in Antipolo City.

This exhibit follows through from the artist’s first exhibit, “Strong Material”: an abstract series with a focus on the textures, sheen, and colors of different materials to both channel and elicit an emotional response. Both exhibitions are named after beautiful horses; the artist is a horse aficionado and raiser.

The artist has always found the raw strength in horses; they’re graceful creatures, with expressive eyes, shiny coats and wonderful form; their fast gallops lend freedom to those fortunate enough to ride them. Rojas has found horses to be a source of fascination and happiness. This happiness, he has found out, is paralleled in painting. Perhaps, it is the body that is elevated to new levels of speed and power. For the latter, it is the mind that is taken by the medium to explore memories and express new emotions.

The new works present a genuine exploration of color field and textural composition, and how these draw out emotions, similar to the body of work created by Jose Joya in the 1960s and ’70s. Succeeding in his first solo by harnessing the way metallic colors change depending on the quality of light and how texture creates a raw emotional response, Rojas created a body of work that’s always new depending on the time of day, and the amount and quality of the reflected light. He explores and exploits these qualities even further in the second solo with the addition of new elements to express pleasant emotions generated by his visits to various places around the world, as well as the delight in having wonderful racehorses from which many of the works take their names from.

At least three types of works comprise the exhibit. Those like “Fiorella” follow the color field composition of the earlier exhibition, but with a more elaborate and elegant composition. Then there are those with accenting elements of line, contrasts in both color palette, texture and shapes, such as in “Rhumaker 2.” These works create a dynamism in the contrast created by planes and shapes, as well as in the addition of new texturizing material like metallic foil, minute glass beads, different earths such as pulverized volcanic rock and sand. And finally there are the works which use pure globs of pastel paint over metallic and pearlized color fields, such as “Confetti.”

Joy Roxas’ “Material Maker” will run until April 30. Pinto Art Gallery is at #1 Sierra Madre St., Grand Height Subd., Brgy. San Rafael, Antipolo City. Call 6971015; e-mail [email protected].