Exhibitions

Exploring new directions in the integration of popular art and culture with renditions of literary archetypes, painter Aileen Lanuza reaches the intersections of Filipinana, pop aesthetics, interest in the silver screen and feminism in her intriguing new series. In The Interrogation of Maria Clara, showing at Galerie Joaquin , opening Thursday, August 8, 2013 at 6 p.m., the titular painting is in the guise of a movie poster (complete with the laurel-surrounded text announcing awards garnered), setting the overall tone of an attempted discourse. The passive and feminine Maria Clara – long a symbol of the chastity of the Filipina – is culled from Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and passed through the prism of Lanuza's own vision of femininity. Thus appropriated, she is then considered another pop cultural trope as opposed to a national archetype and is treated accordingly in the modern medium of film, alongside other "heroes" of the medium—including animated characters and film stars.

But why is the fragile and revered Maria Clara being the subject of an interrogation in the first place? In this show, artist Aileen Lanuza presents twelve paintings which allows the viewer to answer the question himself and to weave his own story. Lanuza investigates this fixation with Maria Clara as she presents her own concern for the silver screen, Hollywood, and even icons of Filipino movies mixed with favorite Disney characters. Lanuza herself is far from inexperienced in such forays. She has long experimented with placing the female form in pop cultural contexts – Catwoman, for instance – and has a conceptually surrealist series using the archetypal image of Maria Clara. As she progressed in her practice, she began to strip the contexts from her figurations and presented women in postures that indicated sensual femininity, throughout which she displays a remarkable affinity for hyperrealism as an aesthetic style.

The exhibit runs from August 8-16, 2013 at Galerie Joaquin, located at 371 P. Guevarra Street corner Montessori Lane, Addition Hills, San Juan City. They may be reached through their landline at (632) 723-9418 or email at info@galeriejoaquin.com. Please visit their website at www.galeriejoaquin.com.

A fine arts graduate of the University of the Philippines, Aileen Lanuza's career trajectory has seen a level of critical attention, her latest achievement being a Juror's Choice Award from the GSIS Art Competition. Moreover, her paintings have been included the auctions of Larasati and Borobudur, and has been featured in publications such as "A Treasury of Philippine Nudes," "Larasati, Pictures of Asia," and "100 Years, 100 nudes" by the UP Alumni Centennial celebration. So there is a degree of familiarity with the subject at hand. But in this new series, we have a more nuanced evaluation of the concepts.

For instance, we have She's My Goil, a canvas of various characters seemingly gawking at Maria Clara—in an extreme case, we have a Tex Avery wolf glancing lecherously. In contrast, we have Popeye the Sailor ready to fight them off. While all the human figures are monochrome, the animated figures and Maria Clara herself are rendered in full color. Through this painting, Lanuza attempts to present the idea of how Philippine femininity is under scrutiny by outside (read: foreign) cultural influences. A similar conceit is considered in Cartographing Maria. Mickey Mouse is the cartographer painting a portrait of Maria Clara and the result is a Maria Clara with Mickey Mouse ears, whilst a playful Pluto watches nearby. Here Lanuza attempts to show how cultural definitions are determined from multiple perspectives—an American cultural icon interpreting a Philippine one, in this case with Mickey's canvas showing Maria Clara as his girlfriend, Minnie. Or could this be the subject Maria Clara that has been subjected to interrogation?

These interpolations make for a fascinating viewing experience, and doubtless serves as an evolutionary development in Lanuza's practice. In her tireless studies of what it means to be a woman in the Philippines, Lanuza has hit upon a vital aspect of contemporary visual art. It will be interesting to see her survey this further in future shows.