Explore the Foreign in the Familiar in "Project Belonging: From There to Here" at the Ateneo Art Gallery

Project Belonging: From There to Here is a two-part exhibition curated by Spain-based Filipino curator Kristine Guzmán, opening on 10 August 2024, Saturday, 4:00pm. The first part of the exhibition, entitled “The Foreign in the Familiar,” features works by Spanish visual artist Enrique Marty, with Isabel & Alfredo Aquilizan as guest artists.

Project Belonging is based on a dual approach of self-representation, considering the self as a product of society, emerging from social and symbolic interaction. The idea of belonging is explored by delving into the contrast of the homelike, or familiar, and unhomely, or uncanny, and how both intermingle and merge. Though Marty and the Aquilizans define this differently in their respective practices, the figure of the family or the community take a central role in both.

ENRIQUE MARTY, "Superwoman crossing herself," 1998, Oil on board, 60 x 60cm. each, 6 pieces. Courtesy of the Artist/Ateneo Art Gallery.

The first part of the exhibition is entitled “The Foreign in the Familiar” and focuses on Enrique Marty’s work. Since the start of his career, Marty’s main body of work has been nourished by a long pictorial tradition influenced by the Baroque, and is centered on the idea of family in which the everyday and the familiar becomes a genre with its own personality. It also touches on the existence and acceptance of conflict as a coexisting element into the domestic scene. This reveals the traumas that rise from Marty’s familial history, a phenomenon which connects viewers’ personal memories. Charged with the emotional, familiar, and affective narrative, the invisible becomes seen and visceral to the viewer.

ENRIQUE MARTY, "At Boleskine House," 2008, Watercolor on paper, 30 x 30cm. Courtesy of the Artist/Ateneo Art Gallery.

The launch of Project Belonging will be preceded by an Artist’s and Curator’s Talk at 2:00pm with Enrique Marty and Kristine Guzmán. Interested guests may reserve their slot at https://go.ateneo.net/ProjectBelonging.

The opening also coincides with Transitions and Continuity: Selections from the Ateneo Art Gallery Video Art Collection. The exhibition will be on-view at the third floor galleries, featuring four works by Martha Atienza, Kaloy Olavides, Mark Salvatus, and Gerardo Tan.

MARTHA ATIENZA, Still from "Gilubong ang Akon Pusod sa Dagat (My Navel is Buried in the Sea)" Ed. 1 of 10, 2011, 3-channel video installation, 31 minutes 48 seconds. Courtesy of Ateneo Art Gallery.

Each work varies in concept and approach, touching on themes of urbanization, privacy, representation, and socio-ecological concerns. The show highlights the relationship between practice and medium, and how contemporary artists today are able to integrate technological advancements into their creative endeavors.

KALOY OLAVIDES, Still from "Here and Not Here" Ed. 1 of 5, 2000/2012, Live site-specific performance and 4-channel video installation, Variable dimensions. Courtesy of Ateneo Art Gallery.

Part 1 of Project Belonging: From There to Here. The Foreign in the Familiar is supported in part by a grant from Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), a state agency. The show will be on-view from 10 August – 26 October 2024 at the second floor, Wilson L Sy Prints & Drawings Gallery, and Transitions and Continuity: Selections from the Ateneo Art Gallery Video Art Collection from 10 August – 31 October 2024 at the third floor galleries (Fredesvinda Almeda Consunji Gallery, Ambeth R Ocampo Gallery, Elizabeth Gokongwei Gallery, and Alicia P Lorenzo Gallery).

The Ateneo Art Gallery is open from Monday to Saturday, 9:00am – 5:00pm. For more information, visit www.ateneoartgallery.com or email aag@ateneo.edu.