"By The Light Of The Moon" A Solo Exhibition of Jomike Tejido
Jomike Tejido’s inspiration came from his love of creating imaginative fantasy worlds. For his latest solo exhibition “By the Light of the Moon”, the artist is focusing on the majestic and the overall serenity the night provides. “In this collection, I gave special attention to the moon and its powerful, guiding, mystical, and not to mention beautiful, presence.” Tejido narrates.
“By the Light of the Moon” by Jomike Tejido will be on view from June 17 to 26, 2021. Galerie Joaquin U.P. Town Center is located at 2/F Phase 2 U.P. Town Center, Katipunan Ave., Diliman, Quezon City.
“By the Light of the Moon” by Jomike Tejido will be on view from June 17 to 26, 2021. Galerie Joaquin U.P. Town Center is located at 2/F Phase 2 U.P. Town Center, Katipunan Ave., Diliman, Quezon City.
The past year has been a period of ruminations and complexities that called for moments of deliberate nostalgia. In the same way, artist Jomike Tejido realized that he has never illustrated the alphabet after producing more than a hundred picture books for children. In his latest exhibition, Tejido grounds himself back to the fundamentals and basics of things.
Kinetic ABC presents stabile and mobile sculptures that spell out the letters of the alphabet. With paintings named after abbreviations that represent important definitions for Tejido, the works in this exhibition nestle as markers of people, places, and events from the artist’s recollection of the past. Here, the artist remembers himself as a young boy who excitingly scooped out alphabet-shaped pasta from his soup as he formed silly words that don’t make sense. Tejido hopes for the same experience passed on to the viewers—an opportunity to recall blithe and untroubled days and live them once more.
The sculptures in this presentation contain fragments that sway with the air current to generate movement, defining the spaces where the objects rest. The works intervene in the environment and yet, harmoniously and playfully remain. In this series, Tejido’s practice of entailing sharp geometric forms has shifted to the gradual exploration of organic curves. The exhibition takes inspiration from artists Alexander Calder, Hilma af Klint, Joan Miró, the Bauhaus movement, the illustrator Mary Blair, and the French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier.
What we can find here are reminders of matters that made an impact in Tejido’s life, whether in his architectural and artistic practice or simply in his sleeping habits. For example, the paintings here elicit magnetic colors that generate a new cosmos that lives inside Tejido’s canvases. Hence, concocting new perspectives in the way we think about letters and characters.
The intention for Kinetic ABC might have been to send us back to a place where we learn our beginnings in understanding primary forms. However, what Tejido forged is a multi-dimensional way to look at how we associate memories to letters, colors, shapes, shadows, and everything else that has already been there. If only we had looked closer and further enough.
curated by Gwen Bautista
Invencionismo
11th solo exhibition
Galerie Stephanie
Reflecting on his background as an architect and on the influence of Latin American Concrete art movements in Modern Art, Jomike Tejido presents “Invencionismo” —his recent one-man exhibition. Derived from a term used by the Argentine Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención (AACI) in the mid 40s, “Invencionismo” is often interpreted as a re-orientation of the pictorial identity, which is founded on plastic values as advanced by the European Concrete art movements. Here, Tejido surveys the transformation of lines, planes, and form while activating a sensory experience through the physical and the imaginative.
In this exhibition, Tejido looks at his architectural practice and considers the relationship of creating three dimensional forms, which are then, later translated to paintings. The transformation of objects and images continues with the intent to engage the audience to re-assemble, re-organize, or in other words, to invent based on how they deem art should be acted upon. This attempt stems from the statement inside the “Manifiesto Invencionista” published in 1946 that “Concrete art exalts the act of being, because that is what it practices.” This, thus, refers to art that functions as an act, specifically, as an act of invention. However, Tejido takes a slightly different path as the works here capture a rather more inventive and playful mood than the largely restricted geometrical forms of Concrete art movements such as the AACI, and drawing from later movements such as the Arte Madí and the Neo-Concretism Movement founded in Brazil whose approach proceeds to assess the engagement of the body and the stimulation of senses, other than on vision. Hence, even in works that take the two-dimensional form, Tejido launches his ability in defining illusory spaces and planes that create optical impact that affect other senses through our perception of images.
Nevertheless, Tejido brings to the fore the relationships of objects and meanings when placed in a setting that asks us to think about how art is made and constructed. The effect of contemplative aesthetics when envisioned through art, thus, transcends forms.
curated by Gwen Bautista
Transitions
10th solo exhibiton
Galerie Stephanie
Artists strive on consistency in style when paving through the industry, creating something identifiable and unique. The challenge there is the diversification of the style while retaining its distinct elements, creating an exploration of mediums, techniques and narratives.
Jomike Tejido, who was known for his artworks on woven mats (banig), did such an exploration on his oeuvre. He introduced his banig-artworks by simply utilizing the mats as an alternative to traditional work surfaces like paper and canvas. He used this mat (native to East Asia, and particularly in the Philippines) to display an abstract geometric landscape akin to buildings and various organic elements like fresh produce, complemented by playful and bold colors. He has embraced this style throughout his years as a visual artist, until in 2018 when he caught glimpse of a refreshing way to narrate his style.
Initially introduced in a group show that highlights the versatility of paper, Tejido was challenged to continue to incorporate his use of character banig in this, having been used to paint on it instead of integrating it on a traditional smooth surface. His first few pieces of this “experimentation” had such positive reception, that he extended the challenge into creating similar collage works on a more contemporary surface like acrylic glass.
Tejido finally launches this new collection of mixed media artworks in his 10th solo exhibition, aptly titled “Transitions” at Galerie Stephanie. Unlike his previous shows, pieces of this collection are mostly made up of cut out woven mats creatively positioned on canvas or paper (aided by acrylic paint) as pivotal charm in the overall mix of his well-balanced color and whimsical composition. The concept behind works in Transitions is very much transitory indeed, reflecting on the idea of growth and movement, which, in a way, is also a subtle imposition on his artistic career. “The organic side in this collection is a result of experimentation from its geometric counterpart. As I developed an interest in gardening, cooking and the fascination with various shapes of vegetables, I played around with these forms and imagined how plants and vegetables look like as they are growing.”
Tejido (b. 1982) is an alumnus of University of Santo Tomas with a degree in architecture. Aside from being an exhibiting artist, he also has contributions in the field of architecture and children’s book illustrations. He has been active in the art industry for a little more than a decade, exhibiting both locally and internationally. Most of his works are inspired by his architectural background, created with organic blocks and shapes and imbued with bright and narrative renderings.
Transitions will have its opening reception at Galerie Stephanie on March 2, Saturday, 6PM. The gallery is located at the 4th floor East Wing of Shangri-la Plaza, Mandaluyong. Exhibit will be up for view until the 17th. For more inquiries, kindly call 940-5726 or email inquiry.galeriestephanie@gmail.com.
by Grace Oreiro
Bauhaus X Banig
9th solo exhibit
Paseo Gallery
Carousel
8th solo exhibit
Olive Creek Gallery
Gentle Giants
6th solo exhibit
Looking For Juan Art Space