Exhibitions

“Life is Beautiful: Heaven on Earth” Captures the Artist’s Search for Perpetual Happiness and True Meaning

For Aljo Pingol’s upcoming solo show Life is Beautiful: Heaven on Earth, the works explore the relationship between optimistic self-discovery and the artist’s firsthand declarations of faith, hope, and joy.

Having engaged figures painted with an idyllic disposition in his sanguine vistas, the pieces produce familiar visual signs of what can be considered as heaven on earth: subjects whose happiness and exuberance come from within, having a positive outlook, and welcoming simple joys that life has to offer. Aside from paintings, In Life is Beautiful, these themes are also made by the artist into sculptures that feature jovial individuals, often embellished with symbols nuancing the achievement of emotional fulfillment and gratification. The light hues establish a dream-like surreal quality, suggesting notions of calmness and tranquility, and formally unifying the sculptures with the equally festive paintings.

In Life is beautiful, Pingol draws us to his enchanting world where even grandparents and people from all walks of life can and still do fall in love. He also inspires us to remember the good old days by injecting visual mementos of road trips, motorcycle rides, roadsters, jalopies, and Volkswagen Combis while pining under a full or quarter moon.

There is also a declaration by the artist of his strong concerns in terms of the local cultural structure: solid family values, the plight of the common man, and the Filipino’s innate positivism resonate deeply in the fiber of his work. Inspired and invigorated by a renewed sense of meaning, and awed by the mystery of how aspirations and desires propel the will to live, Pingol now explores the varied compositions of human interconnection and the many aspects of its framework.

Life is Beautiful: Heaven on Earth will be on view at Art Center from March 15 – 26, 2018 with the Artist Reception scheduled for March 20, Tuesday at 6PM. Art Center is located at 5th Floor, SM Megamall Building A, Julia Vargas Avenue, Corner EDSA, Mandaluyong City. For inquiries, contact Galerie Joaquin at +632 7239418 or email info@galeriejoaquin.com.

Pingol has found the significance of a fulfilled life to be useful in rearranging perceived ideas, and his solo show Life is Beautiful attempts to understand the perpetual search for true happiness. The works utilize the artist’s positive frame of mind and his ability to create visual imagery that evoke emotions of hope and optimism even in trying times. This is all the more rendered meaningful considering that Pingol himself has been through difficult times and great emotional pain. The animated nature of his works frees the imagination, providing opportunities for the viewer to inspire dreams and visions of a meaningful life.

Aljo Pingol (b. 1974), a University of Sto. Tomas graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, is a contemporary of foremost genre artist Dominic Rubio. Pingol has been a recipient of a number of awards, such as 2nd placer in the Nuclear Free Philippines Coalition Art Competition in 1989, and 1st placer in the Far East Broadcasting Art Competition in 2002. He has also earned distinctions, one of which was a nomination in 2007 as the Valenzuela Artist of the Year. His works, also internationally recognized, sold out at the November 2011 AAF in Singapore.

Pingol never fails to take his audience to an optimistic perspective of his journey. As a practicing visual artist for more than a decade, he translates the tales of his various experiences and encounters into this quest for satisfaction and calm. Surprisingly, it is not hard to share this path with him. He not only makes use of universal truths but he also grounds his works by infusing a number of local details and motiffs. The artist’s robusts representations are, indeed, a feast to the weary. Collectively, they provoke in the viewer the zest for life within oneself. “There is so much to live for”, Aljo Pingol’s vibrantly painted canvasses declare. “Life is Beautiful.”