Bernardo Pacquing and Max Balatbat's show appears to be one of pure happenstance. Never before have the careers of the two artists crossed paths. The two have neither collaborated nor have shown together. And yet looking at their works, their two-man show for Silverlens Galleries, is a long time coming. This exhibition displays a surprisingly shared sensibility and common references. These in spite of springing from entirely different points of departure.

Max Balatbat, whose most recent works have appeared at the Beijing Biennale and shows in Vienna and Florence, brings in a new series of mixed media panels, inspired by shanties in his neighborhood. Out of an assortment of found and refashioned materials, they weave together unusual quilts of varied patterns and textures.

Layering and blending are also found in Bernardo Pacquing's massive oils on canvas. An AAP and Thirteen Artists Award recipient, he is inspired by the minutiae of urban life. These remnants of the passage of time and human presence delight Pacquing, who seeks to bring to our attention these details that we often overlooked amid the fast-paced passing of days.

Though dissimilar in intentions, Pacquing and Balatbat’s works play in the same frequency, and thus achieves a certain resonance. This unprecedented pairing delivers us refreshing visions that bring to light the complex fabric of this city, while at the same time reveal a personal approaches on the genre. With their unconventional orchestration of delicate elements across their canvases, what they remind us are the many individual paths towards potent abstraction.

-Silverlens Galleries

Image: © Max Balatbat
Courtesy of the artist and Silverlens Galleries