Friday, November 8, 2013

Delirium

It's A Party, Let's Dance!
55.5 x 63.5 in
acrylic, spray paint and oil on canvas
2013

Ngayong Gabi AngUmaga, Ngayong UmagaAng Gabi

To say that Zeus Bascon has a vivid imagination would be a staggering understatement. His second solo show, thoughtfully entitled Ngayong Gabi AngUmaga, NgayongUmagaAng Gabi, manages to merge the tumultuousness of waking life with the playground of his subconscious mind, where a motley cast of characters hold court, along with a dose of supernatural phenomena thrown into the mix. It is this same group of characters, from recognizable human figures to creatures fit only for the most frightening of nightmares that spin the stories of Bascon’s art. A closer look into the paintings and collages suggests that what Bascon is trying to tell us is that the connection between the realms of the conscious and subconscious ismuch more deeply rooted than we think, and change is the underlying anchor that holds all of these things together.

Reverence towards the supernatural and the occult is a recurring theme in many of Zeus Bascon’s creations. Fascinated by the Filipino system of anting-anting and the belief in the existence of elementals, these symbols and creatures often find their way again and again into Zeus’s paintings. Bascon describes his creative process as one that involves acceptance, in order to translate thought to canvas in the most truthful way possible. In his own words,“Lots of crazy, unbelievable things happened to me, and these things affected me and everything around me, and I just learned to accept these things.”

Another striking characteristic about Zeus Bascon’s work is his innate ability to combine elements that are both strange and mundane into an organic whole. From the scattered body parts, patchwork creatures and humanoid figures that so casually occupy the canvases, it’s as if they’re telling us that it’s okay to for everyone to let their freak flag fly.

On this planet, the sun is just about to rise while the night is just beginning to fall somewhere else. It makes sense, then, that this morning is night, and this night is morning. A little change in perspective is all that’s needed.

X
27.5 x 28 in
acrylic on canvas
2013

Screaming in Exile
7.25 x 5.25 in
collage on layers of acrylic sheets and glass
2013

top left clockwise: Pretty Visitors i, Pretty Visitors ii, Pretty Visitors iv, Pretty Visitors iii; 29.75 x 43.25 in mixed media on paper, 2013

This Must Be The Place
7 x 10 in (Diptych)
acrylic and pyrography, x-ray film., acrylic sheet, nail and silicon on wood
2013

AN INVITATION: HALIAKIAHIWAGIMHALIANIALIYAGIM
31 1/4 x 17 1/2 inches
Acrylic, Charcoal, Collage Elements, Clear Lacquer on Frame,Hologram Sticker and Acrylic on Glass
2013

Entities
9 x 12 in
acrylic on canvas, collage on acrylic sheet
2013

-----------------------------------------------------------------
exhibiton text by Maria Fatima Corazon Potenciano

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Drawings on the wall








----------------------------------------------------------------
all by my nephew, Leon, using crayons.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Unholy



In Altar Ego, Zeus Bascon and Marcushiro Nada present various installations and assemblages that serve as "altars of meaning." They invite the viewers to partake in the religion of identity. Each one puts their own alternate belief in the seemingly familiar imagery. The artists' intention lies in the process of drawing out the viewer's interaction with an invented mythology thereby creating an alternate religion of sorts.

Simpa
2011
31 x 35.75 in
acrylic, oil, collage elements, mirror on wood


6:00
2013
64.5 x 55.75 x 2.25 in (painting), 10.75 x 65 x 5.5 in (floor piece)
acrylic and oil on canvas, wall putty on wood



(l-r) Sancta (Flor), 12.75 in (diameter), embroidery on stockings, acrylic on paper, pins, wall putty | Salvaje, 23.25 x 14.75 x 4.75 in, acrylic and collage, wax on wood | Apparition, 9 x 7.75 x 2.5 in, acrylic, pyrography, acrylic sheet, collage and pins on wood | 2013




Promises, 22 in long; strings, beads, sequins, found objects | End, 11.5 x 14.5 in ; pyrography, acrylic on wood, acrylic on silicone, pins, embroidery, oil on canvas | 2013


The Divine
2013
16 x 15.25 in
collage of acetate, lace, glass, mirror, beads, silicone, lighting fixtures

Sunday, September 1, 2013

I had too much fun

i failed to see what's coming.


The Gathering
29.5 x 43.3 in
mixed media on paper
2013


Giyang
27.5 x 40 in
acrylic and oil on canvas
2013


Stortoink
9 x 12 in
mixed media on canvas
2012

----------------------------

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Leon's Photographs

i saw him with the digital camera one afternoon. 
i thought i'd teach him how to click the button for shooting and let him play with it.
i did follow him wherever.
i think he did well.



this is the photo he's taking when i took this photo for instagram.

of course, one of his favorite ducks






im curious what made him take this



i thought these last two shots of him is nice for a diptych!

Monday, August 5, 2013

Shebang!

"The Anticosmic Feast"

Combinatorial Explosion
mixed media on canvas
55 x 55 in
2013

Cosmos/Cosmic

- orderly or harmonious system
-comes from the greek word "kosmos" - order/ornament
-antithetical to the concept of chaos

-the word cosmetics originates from the same root.
-it also means outerspace (Russian,Bulgarian,Serbian)
-in Mandarin Chinese it is translated to yuzhou which literally means space time "Yu"-space "zhou"-time
-relating to/concerned with the abstract spiritual/metaphysical ideas



Where Are We?
acrylic and collage element on acrylic sheet
10 x 14 in
2013

METAPHYSICAL

-concerned with explaining fundamental nature of being and the world. 
-META(beyond/upon/after)

-attempts to answer 2 basic questions in the broadest possible terms:
1.what is there?
2.what is it like?


Boundaries and Reason
mixed media on paper
43.35 x 59.5 in (diptych)
2013

Anticosmic

-also tackles on the misantrophic order/temple of the black light
-all about patchwork religion(composed of many religions,mostly ancient sumerian paganism and gnoticism)
-about new religions that are being born (and modified) every day,it would seem


The Shebang (KAMPALA)
mixed media on paper
29.75 x 43.35 in
2013

Jon Nodtveidt's take on anticosmic

-anticosmic people refuses to be a servant of the cosmic order
-refuses to being someone's creation,a passive victim of cosmic fate,chained to the wheel of life,blinded by illusions and lies that has only one purpose;to keep us in line in a system controlled by the oppressor
-to strive for liberation and enlightenment,thus refusing to accept the inherited yoke of humanity. choose to eternally become,to consciously strive away from,and beyond the pre dictated conditions for existence and to struggle towards becoming completely self made,in accordance to my own true will,free from all weaknesses and chains that binds us to the cosmic creation. it is not for the masses,it is for the elite who doesnt want control. 

l-r: Being (Face), (Breathe), (Light off), (Cell), (Detached); mixed media on paper, 2012

The Observer
acrylic on canvas
9 x 24 in (diptych)
2012-2013

---------------------------------------------------

Featuring the works of: Alvin Capistrano, James Darryl Esguerra
Jessie Mondares and Zeus Bascon

Secret Fresh , Ronac Art Center
January 20, 2013

text based on Mr. Esguerra's email to 'Erik'

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

A Long Pause

For many months i have been re-occupied by tons of activities that somehow blocked me to continue posting here on my blog. I find writing a struggle. Facebook and Instagram provided a much easier venue for me to express whatever stuff i want/need to post.

And now that i have freed myself of obligations and pressure to finish within deadlines, i have more time to catch up on hanging commitments, one of which is this blog.



                                                                                 et cætera




A friend of mine suggested, if i wanted to learn writing, i just need to simply write my thoughts. I have lots of blank notebooks o write on so i decided to make one a journal. I consider it more of a diary sans the mushy stuff, it's kind of messy and i cant even recognize my penmanship (in which, according to an entry dated 20th of June this year, i will try to improve. Later on that entry, " I'm starting to think this attempt, to write legibly is just another on of those, simply [?] unattainable stuff. Where my attempts result to zero.". And it is). The journal entry continues, the attempt over. Along with my thoughts are quotations, notes, observations, keywords and drawings. Aside from the journal/diary (haha), im keeping 4 other notebooks: one for preliminary drawings/artwork studies;


a red one for my schedule, ideas and other notes; and the other two for my visual journals, the firsts of my notebooks (of which one is still borrowed by a friend who planned on doing something with it). 



Anyway, since my first solo exhibition, i worked on a commission for a stretch of 6 straight months! Then on January this year, i finished and did my hair  blonde. I needed to do that in order to get back on track. I went to Singapore with Con and Gabs to visit Ver, Sidd, Gigi and other friends who'll be participating for the Art Stage. It was a lot! And when i got back, i continued doing my stuff again.




I'm home.