Arnold Biornos is at the ‘Crossroads’
MANILA, Philippines - Arnold Biornos depicts his confrontation with, and celebration of, his other self in “Crossroads,” which is on view at Kulay-Diwa Gallery, 25 Lopez Av., Lopez Village, Sucat, Parañaque.
Born in Hawaii, of Ilocano parentage, Biornos showcases works that allude to his childhood. “Passage” references his fascination with boats and cargoes, pre-colonial Filipinos and Hawaiians being seafaring peoples. “Treasure Chest,” a serial pile-up of identical boxes studded with knobs, reverberates with echoes of his childhood home, where the dressers were the first evidence of his crayon-encrusted artworks. By way of his “Hawaiian Gods,” Biornos acknowledges the Philippine rice gods, the “bulul.”
Memories of his views of Metro Manila’s bustling and frenetic energy, with the city’s overwhelming sense of chaos and disorder, have seeped deeply in “Causeways and Byways,” where the artist, atop a pell-mell tumble of rising edifices shrouded in gray smog, emerges, as if coming up for air. Stunning is the word for “Crossroads,” stretching panoramically across the gallery wall. It is constructed architecturally as a juxtaposition of jagged geometric forms and color-filled boulders, battling between earth tones and sharply blazing colors, with their jazzy field of movement, seeming to sail away, despite the heavy and muscular brushwork. Similarly, a work like “Street Walk” is like an open book, with incomplete inscriptions as fragments of the words “Filipino” and American.” A fetching work is “Muse,” which one can only assume is the Fil-Am lady to whom the artist is engaged.”
Arnold Biornos has just departed for his native Hawaii to be with his family, returning to Manila in February, ready for the next semester at UP Fine Arts. In search of his Asian self, the artist seems destined to meet more crossroads.
For inquiries, call 826-0574.
