In the intimacy of our bedroom, what thoughts do we think? What secrets do we keep? And, yes, what itches do we scratch?
Four figurative powerhouses top bill this month’s exhibition at Gallery.Sort Of., seducing us with thoughts better kept to ourselves. Hidden desires. Private moments. Secret assignations. These four lead us down paths of sensory introspection, if not self-discovery, in “Bed, Bath & Hubad.”
There is something erotic about the very access we are given by these artists. It’s sensually permissive and one could deem it arousal by invitation.
Bea Dolloso frames her heroines in skewed perspectives, tiles, patterns and prints offsetting femme figures in domestic repose. Or contemplation. She chooses to depict faces that are asymmetrical, yet her pieces for this collection come in pairs.
Kurt Manzano’s torsos are unapologetic, brooking no criticism for depicting what just is. His figures are deployed in ordinary nonchalance, the everyday captured and transformed into canvasses of arresting positions, an obvious influence of his dance background. Never mind that the performance is set within the confines of a cramped bathroom, or a bunk bed.
Nathan Esguerra offers languorous attitudes, slumber on a comfy couch perhaps a wink away. Yet, idiosyncratic details wake the attention, such as mismatched playing cards poised on top of a bathtub, or graffiti adorning a private loo. It is a choice between succumbing to sleep, or sharpening one’s focus. Either way, the viewer is rewarded.
Finally, Daryl Feril rounds out the quartet by throwing a neon-soft light onto bathroom vignettes. Lurid lighting illuminates his stage, and there is a slight fetish reference waiting to be noticed. Fighting cocks play a Freudian role in his salon, hirsute legs beckoning the next door neighbor.
Daryl Feril, “Where the Wild Rests”
We stumble into the bath, ready to plunge into wakefulness. We stumble into bed, ready to plunge into sleep. We are in a liminal state, transitioning into inner worlds. Or venturing out from there.
These four purveyors of peep show moments meld together in one, almost indistinguishable banquet, varied flavors uniting in a single visual feast. Bed. Bath. Now hubad.
Welcome to our sanctum—the door is open.
“Bed, Bath & Hubad” exhibit is ongoing at at Gallery.Sort Of., located at 37 Camaro St., Fairview Park, Quezon City.
