Ambivalence as Creative Style

CEBU, Philippines - In the never-ending politics of creative terms and jargons, the definition of “style” waxes and wanes like the phases of the moon.

Beholden to what can be qualified – as opposed to that which can be measured and quantified into parts that make up a sum – “style” holds all sorts of meanings when taken into deeper contexts in the arts. The word could bolster or renege what are widely perceived as the indictors of creative identity.

This multi-phased encapsulation of “style” is the binder of the creative oeuvre of  Cebuano visual artist Jojo Gubalane – the clincher that completes the artist’s third solo show, “ArtVenture.”

On display at the third level of the Ayala Center Cebu until May 22, the exhibit presents a range of medium and large-scale works that zero in on Gubalane’s adventures in the creative arts sphere. The show scores how creative ambivalence can be harnessed as an artist’s personal creative style.

Mainly made up of watermedia works, the exhibit presents pieces that are molded and juxtaposed by various creative art movements – covering the likes of cubism, suprematism, abstract expressionism, their mergers and their amalgamations.

Far from being a random mix of un-curated works, the show lays down the different creative pathways Gubalane has ventured and is treading on as an artist, without allowing the inhibitive aspects of “style” blur his creative visions as he cuts against the restrictions of stylistic conformity.

In a time when content is particularly geared to meet the fancies of a specific audience, Gubalane veers away from the fad. He doesn’t do this for the sake of being different, well aware that creative discovery and rediscovery are not about fulfilling wishes or demands, but about the constant search for beauty – to freely bring out its truths. (FREEMAN)