Recuerdos

This Year's installment of ManilArt2016, Galleria Nicolas is proud to represent Neo-Genre artist Dominic Rubio for his solo exhibition.

For many Filipinos, the past can sometimes offer a vision of long-forgotten elegance and sophistication. Turn-of-the-century Manila of the late Spanish and early American periods was a bustling and prosperous city, and this image is one that resonates with Filipinos eager to recapture the spirit of those times. This nostalgia is what famed painter Dominic Rubio uses as the foundation of his practice.

Rubio’s uses these memories as a jumping point to his unique treatment of figuration. His trademark elongated necks are paired with an acute attention to detail and a respect for thorough research. A brilliant character painter, his subjects are of a historical leaning and therefore wear the details of their historical time-period—costumes, equipment, and even the backgrounds of churches and other colonial buildings all conform to an idyllic reimagining of the past.

It is Rubio's placement of these figures into the realm of heritage and nostalgia that sets the University of Santo Tomas-trained painter apart from other artists. Art critic Cid Reyes once said of Rubio's practice: “Arresting is the punctilious application of pigment and the delineation of the figures…technically adept, Rubio displays impressive workmanship.” It's an attempt to seize that idyllic moment in time - in this case a very dreamy idea of turn-of-the-century Philippine society - through a superb and unrivaled technique. A technique so magical that once can actually see oneself in one of Rubio's works.

Dominic Rubio has had several critically lauded exhibitions in and around the region, including shows in New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. He recently and successfully unveiled a mural entitled ‘The Great Promenade of Philippine-American Friendship’ that has become the artistic landmark feature at the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC earlier this year. A fixture of international auction houses, Rubio is one of the most celebrated visual artists today.