NACION @Galerie Francesca

NACION @Galerie Francesca

Galerie Francesca is pleased to present NACION, Francis Nacion’s 10th solo exhibition, which uncannily also celebrates his 10th year in the art scene. This follows after his hugely successfully two successive solo exhibitions in 2017 at the SM Megamall Art Center, and SM Seaside Cebu. NACION rounds off his ten years in art by returning to his roots, and giving them a contemporary twist. Known for his colorful, fantastical half-faced figures which celebrate Filipino life through traditional themes, such as women harvesting fruits, religious processions, mother and child, children at play, courtship, and religious iconography like the Last Supper and the Fishers of Men which enjoy popular acceptance; Nacion, for this exhibit, adds some new and current themes to the genre such as a lady enjoying her cup of coffee, or best friends professing their loyalty. By doing so, he successfully updates the imaging of our way of life and what we hold dear. With thirty-one works on exhibit, this major exhibition could be said to image our nation.

Nacion is one of the young artists who successfully followed in the path of Amorsolo, not stylistically, but thematically. Choosing to present images from our culture which bring joy, despite the prevalence of social realism and conceptualism in contemporary art, he revitalizes iconic imagery from the Filipino imagination by presenting them in his unique style. Technically, NACION surpasses his previous exhibitions as the new works have finesse without compromising the naif style typical of his works. He achieves this through successfully using colored glazes and underpaint to create beautiful undertones and the simulation of reflected light in his paintings which create luminosity in his figure, similar to the works of Malang. The glow which wraps the faces of many of his women can be associated with the inner glow unique to the works of Anita Magsaysay Ho. His intricate fabrics, which are not merely overlays of paint, but rather are the product of sgraffito, a reductive technique of scraping layers of paint to reveal contrasting colors underneath, are now even more intricate and labored over, and gives the impression of the complicated embroidery found in our barong tagalog. Under the sensitive curation of Ricky Francisco, NACION promises to be one of the highlights of Galerie Francesca’s offerings to the public, and a fitting tribute to the Filipino soul. It will open in SM Megamall’s Art Center on February 2, 2019, and run until February 14, 2019. For inquiries, please call (02) 5709495/(02) 65926677 or email galeriefrancesca.mega@gmail.com   and galeriefrancesca001@yahoo.com.ph.

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