New gallery opens at La Fuerza
MODEKA Creative Space joins the roster of contemporary art galleries in La Fuerza 1 in Makati City.
The gallery, which opened last December, showcases contemporary art from up-and-coming and established Asian and internationally acclaimed artists, with mediums such as paintings, sculptures, mixed media, limited edition prints and photography. It also offers artist development opportunities, and art performances.
The gallery has taken up the space that formerly housed the 20:20 restaurant (the restaurant has downsized and is now located in front of the gallery).
“[The space] came as an opportunity. It just happened that our friends from 20:20 restaurant freed up the space.” Modeka creative director Riccardo Corsini told members of the press during the gallery’s launch.
“We valued the fact that La Fuerza is already an art district. As an art buyer or enthusiast, you simply would not want to go to just one gallery. The idea is that you can experience different galleries at the same time,” he added.
La Fuerza 1 is also home to Finale Art File, Vinyl on Vinyl, and NOVA Gallery Manila.
Mr. Corsini said that the gallery’s name came from a random play on words. “We did not want to use a real word. We [just] wanted to come up with something new,” he said, adding that it may mean “Modern Decade” or “whatever [you] want.”
THE FIRST EXHIBITION
Modeka’s ongoing first exhibit is named after Robert Frost’s 1923 poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay.”
According to the curatorial notes by Gwen Bautista, the exhibit examines “the idea of impermanence as we struggle from what is deemed as the impalpable human desire for mortality and the difficult truth characterized by the nature of things — that in our world, nothing will remain forever.”
There are four featured artists from the Philippines — photographer Mark Nicdao is showing Portal 1.1 : KRMNNH, a portrait of a woman protruding from a 1930s-style frame and easel; painter Jono Pisano has two oil paintings of contrasting warm and cool tones titled Ku-Ring-Gai 2000 and Out of Nothing; mixed media artist Lynyrd Paras is presenting a sculpture called You are No King to Me featuring a crowned skull with knives pierced through both eyes covered in gold; and artist collective 13 Lucky Monkey presents Immerse, an intricate sculpture of a naked body beside an octopus.
The featured international artists include British painter and sculptor Sinta Tantra, Indonesian painter Ronald Apriyan, Malaysian medical doctor and painter Caryn Koh, and Indonesian painter Dedy Sufriadi.
Aside from shows, Mr. Corsini noted that the gallery hopes to work with emerging artists and host solo shows, as well as exhibitions for artist groups. The venue will also host workshops, lectures, and live performances.
Nothing Gold Can Stay runs until Jan. 31 at Modeka Creative Art Space, located at Warehouse 20A La Fuerza 1, 2241 Don Chino Roces Ave., Makati City. It is open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, visit www.modeka.space/. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman
