Finale Art File in Makati welcomed friends, family and art aficionados who joined two young London-based artists during the opening of their respective exhibits. Nicole Coson and Kristian Kragelund – who both went to Central Saint Martins – may have differing approaches to contemporary art, but their works never fail to evoke reflective contemplation from viewers.
Nicole Coson’s “Process of Elimination” exhibit at the Tall Gallery combines printmaking and painting, and recomposes a rock arrangement through a breakdown of elements. Stone is set against sand, reminiscent of clouds against the sky – where the instinct to make sense of such a formation is a generative but ultimately misleading exercise. The stones rebuild their size and mass upon the canvas while lengths of blue velvet catch the invisible plane of arrangement at the center.
Danish artist Kristian Kragelund showcases a series of works from an ongoing research project on process-based paintings and sculptures in an exhibit titled “Reactive Painting” at Finale Art File’s Upstairs Gallery.
By coating the canvas in a homemade mixture of acrylic binder and a variety of metal powders that alters the surface, Kragelund obtains what he calls “staged expressionism” where control (through the acid mixture spread on canvas) and randomness (the resulting corrosion) work together to create a unique work of art. Connecting the physical process of painting to the broader issue of multicultural formations and intersecting identities, Kragelund seeks to draw out and explore qualities inherent to the material itself.
Also currently on exhibit (until April 30) is Filipino-Japanese artist Taichi Kondo’s “What’s in A Name” where he explores the idea of dualities as perceived by the senses, and as part of imagining a new “provisional world.”