Richard Koh Fine Art (RKFA) Kuala Lumpur is proud to present Philippine artist, Rolan Cruz Ventura aka Manok (b.1979), 11th solo exhibition, REDEFINED in Kuala Lumpur. The exhibition will be on at our gallery from 3 – 17 July 2012.

Manok is passionate about continuity, both in producing works that smoothly flow from one context to the next and in making sure his found subjects, mostly old or discarded materials, gain new meaning and purpose as their basic utility begins to fade.   REDEFINED  is proof of such strong leaning toward preserving the memory of what the objects once wereand making new impressions on art enthusiasts.

Manok chooses to highlight seemingly ordinary, everyday objects that most people usually do not even notice, such as large containers of cooking oil that have begun to rust to old tree barks. Yet Manok treats every line or smudge on the canvas with the utmost attention and importance, carefully recreating certain facets of the object on a large scale, as if to let us seeit under the microscope. Aiming to capture as much detailas he can to depict what the subject might have been through over the years, as its lengthy exposure to different elements only leaves traces of its original appearance, Manok, at the same time, keeps the possibilities open for incidental nuances. One can see it in the way he tries to emphasize textures and tonal values in each piece.

Though he aims to remain within the confines of his photorealist discipline, Manok also enjoys seeing his work turning into something nearly abstract, allowing viewers to interpret the images freely according to their own points of reference. However, for hints on Manok’s creative mindset while he was working on the paintings, viewers may also turn to the installations he madeas an extension of his wall-mounted pieces.