Kenneth Montegrande’s work is along the line of the devoted landscape artists whose works show nature at its various moods and transformations, in some instances undergoing transitions of mythic proportions.
Montegrande is influenced by the British landscape artist J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851), known as “the painter of light.” Like Turner, Montegrande paints poetic canvases in which nature may be shown to be in its idyllic, “bucolic,” mood, but also sometimes in its frenetic, highly charged disturbance.
Montegrande (b. 1979) is a self-taught Filipino abstract painter, a former PR strategist, and event organizer. He is also a former official spokesperson of the Department of Tourism for the National Parks Development Committee.
According to art writer Grace Ng, Montegrande is also influenced by Jackson Pollock, well-known for his unique style of drip painting; and Willem de Kooning, who is known to have developed a radically abstract style of painting that fused Cubism, surrealism and Expressionism.
Montegrande’s works are in the collection of the Japanese art collector Yusaku Maezawa. He has done commissions for the the Malacañang Palace Museum and Library.
“Grandeur Landscapes,” the 10th solo exhibition by Kenneth Montegrande, is on view at Galerie Joaquin, UP Town Center until Feb. 10, with the Artist Reception scheduled on Feb. 4 at 6 p.m. Gallery is at 2/F, Phase 2, UP Town Center, Katipunan Ave., Diliman, Quezon City. Tel. 02-82471109; email galeriejoaquin@gmail.com