Statement for Deutsche Bank Art Projects, Manila

Bursting Bubbles Have no Roots

Picasso utilized African cultural imagery in his paintings but was not described as a representative of African art. An artist can easily source from any given culture including his own. Such visual display of national imagery is common in this period of regional circuiting of the international art market, used as a selling point to stand out. Furthermore, nationhood is popularly attached when an artist is celebrated for being an auction king, a winner of an international competition or when having exhibitions abroad, for bragging rights.  However, intently looking at meaning, Philippine art does not need to be validated through a platform of comparisons especially when it leads to commercialism and individual career advancement. Philippine art is independently great because of its own history. When asked to connect to the celebration of independence for this exhibition, I thought that it should not be the most predictable direction of straightly dealing with local subjects. Instead, I present the progression of my works from 1998 to the current as a means to reflect a rooted practice, representing creative developments that transpired within the Philippine contemporary art scene for a particular generation.

The juxtaposition wherein earlier paintings are positioned side by side with those from different periods enables audiences to examine similarities within differences. Commonalities are visually evident origins, even in current works, represents the foundation of my creative direction. These similar elements within the works are specific points of interests maintained, my personal character in constructing artworks, and subjects I continually work on. Differences on the other hand relates to development of several aspects such as techniques, concepts, contexts, process, subjects and maturity, that describes my growth depth, and range.

As part of a generation who were mid-career in a flourishing local art scene before the current bubble art market, this collection of works reflect creative concerns extensively explored and further cultivated during our time. The use of abstract gestures and forms, various paint handling, surface texturing, appropriation, basing from photos and books, sourcing from art historical concepts and imagery, sourcing from various media and everyday elements, collage, bad painting, text, stencil, and combinations among others are subjects we have creatively worked on. Our generation’s output contributed to how these elements are handled in current practices and appreciated today. Finally, concept based construction of artworks is a major creative direction during those times that are scarcely practiced by current artists. This is way of creating where an artwork’s narrative or anti-narrative concept is based on connecting disparate sources and contexts, and may begin through several starting points that develop together in a given work.

Exhibition view images here

Jay Ticar

graduated BFA from U.P. Fine Arts. He was a student of Roberto Chabet, father of Philippine conceptual art, who curated and recommended him for his early breaks in exhibition. He was awarded a Monbusho Scholarship grant that supported his Masters in Fine Arts at Tama Art University in Tokyo. Shortly afterwards Mr. Ticar received an Asian Public Intellectual Fellowship research award that continued his international practice in both Japan and Indonesia. At the same time frame, he was included in the Ateneo Art Awards for 2 consecutive years. Mr. Ticar’s artworks are represented in respected galleries abroad. In Japan he is with Ota Fine Arts who represents Yayoi Kusama- currently said to be the most famous artist in the world. In the last decade he has based his studio in Manila, Tokyo, Bandung and Toronto.