In the the final hazy days of 2018, New York-based art collective Barangay Bois came through for the culture and held their first Manila show—and it was pretty fire.
The show is aptly named Bagong Barangay, and features 14 local artists who displayed their works ranging from live graffiti, to installation art, to photography. The gallery show, which felt more like a post-holiday house party between good friends and collaborators in the scene, went down at Riverside Studios last Dec 27.
Upon entering the starkly green space of the studio, all eyes were immediately drawn to the contrasting white banners that hung from ceiling to floor, with images containing a plethora of narratives as told by the featured artists. The creatives were sure not to let any of the huge studio’s real estate go to waste by filling its four walls with an installation piece, a 10-feet high live mural, and more photo exhibits created by the up-and-coming talents of the Metro’s underground art scene. Between the smell of fresh paint, beats pounding from the live DJ sets, and the continuous trickle of friends and creatives coming in and greeting each other with big hugs, the entire space felt alive.
The energy was set thanks to the works of the creators in the spotlight: Aly Mananquil, Antonio Vazquez, Bryan Sochayseng, Erika Yamaguchi-Garcia, Gian Gonzales, John Crawford, Josh Castillon, Lancer Casem, Mhar Udarbe, Misha Salud, Olivia Renee, Raizel Go, Top Notch Threats and Tofu. The night was amped up by live sets from Lansuh, Tolo Marvelous, MUII, Zerzac, Pogi Boi, and Kartell’em.
In case you weren’t able to make it, take a peek at the works that were up for show at Bagong Barangay here:
