Dream Women, the 11th solo exhibition of Genodepa, presents images of women who have exhibited the conflicting traits of strength and weakness, fortitude and acquiescence and culled from myths, from the pantheon of saints and from memory whether personally encountered or read about by the artist. Like in typical iconography, the pieces are reduced to the barest essentials that hint at the personas of the inspirations or subjects. But unlike in typical iconography, not all the pieces in this collection are physiognomic representations. The portraits or, rightly, the images, to which the artist gave proper names in lieu of titles, are generally and strictly personal interpretations and even re-interpretations of these characters and the sculptures’ forms closely align themselves to memory images prevalent in primitive art. Genodepa confessed that when he created the pieces he was heavily relying on memory. He was not aiming to craft exact representations of the subjects or inspirations but what he was attempting was to make concrete suggestive images of what he remembered about them or what he wanted them to be remembered for as persons or as personae.
Genodepa who hails from Guimbal, Iloilo is currently Assistant Professor II at the Division of Humanities, College of Arts and Sciences, U.P. Visayas. He holds a Master of Development Communication from the U.P. Open University and has finished his course work in the Master of Fine Arts program of the College of Fine Arts, U.P. Diliman. Genodepa was Ford International Fellow in 2009-2011 and awarded Outstanding UP Alumnus in the Visual Arts in 2008. He received the Freeman Fellowship for Asian Artist (Full Grant) in 1999 from the Vermont Studio Center, USA. He was also Writing Fellow at the 24th UP National Writers Workshop and Fellow at the 1995 NCCA-Samba-Likhaan National Summer Visual Arts Workshop.
Genodepa’s art has been noticed by respected art critics and writers and featured in several prestigious publications.
Martin Genodepa’s exhibition “ Dream Women ” opens on Tuesday, July 3, 2012, at the Alliance Française Total Gallery of the Alliance Française de Manille, with cocktails at 6:30pm to 9pm. The exhibit runs until July 26, 2012. For more details about the exhibit, please contact 895-7441 and 895-7585, email cultural@alliance.ph, or visit www.alliance.ph.
Alliance Française de Manille is located at 209 Nicanor Garcia St. formerly Reposo St.) Bel-Air 2, Makati City.
Cover: Nikita McElroy, Maxine Medina and Hye Won Jang
