Unchained melody meets zen on canvas
You might not normally put artists Ross Capili and Rico Lascano together side by side for an exhibit, but that’s kind of the point of Interchange, Conrad Manila’s latest Of Art and Wine exhibit, which paired two independent styles, somehow ending up with a seamless display of 32 artworks.
The Gallery C show on the third floor marries the Zen minimalism of Lascano with the more maximalist elements of Capili. From the orb-ornamented works of Capili that suggest movements in music, to the scaled-back, monochromatic erasures of Lascano’s nature-themed meditations, Interchange makes a case that these two artists fit naturally together.
After the guests and artists raise a glass of Brut to launch the show, Capili walks me through, noting he curated the layout along Gallery C. Though they never actually exchanged ideas for the show, “I thought we would gel together.” Large circular wall sculptures like Capili’s Moonlight Serenade, overlaid with mild steel flora and fauna (plus the signature orb that has appeared in his work of late) alternate with Lascano’s deft acrylic washes on cold-press Strathmore paper, like the Quietude series, suggesting layers of earth and sky announced in thin, delicate layers.
Capili, sporting a large white lily in his lapel, talks about how music integrates into his process: He collects vinyl records, 45s and Rock-Ola jukeboxes, several of which he’s restored and even decorated for a past exhibit. Though the press release plays up a Vivaldi Four Seasons theme to Interchange, Capili says, “I’m not really the classical type,” preferring Motown, the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. He thinks of painting as composing a melody, or a musical composition. It’s “mostly chaos,” at first. But order and balance start to emerge until “it’s a finished song.”
His personal favorite piece is Thinking Clouds, with its smooth washes of blue, orange and aqua green overset by a hovering indigo orb. The orbs started appearing in his work during lockdown, which felt like “living in a bubble.” “The bubble became my inspiration,” he says. “It’s a place of hope, contemplation. It’s also a prayer. It’s a very delicate world we’re living in now.”
Lascano definitely prefers a more laidback approach, having adopted a daily Zen Buddhism ritual of meditation, then painting. He says his personal favorite piece is Quietude II, with three identical stacked cloud or earth formations seemingly dissolving one into the other, like a Brian Eno ambient piece. He says the work was a reflection on nature and the passage of time. Lascano also carves delicate lines through his other landscapes, with a masterful, minimal energy. I ask him how he knows he’s done with a piece, and he quotes Jackson Pollock: “You know you’re done when you have an orgasm.” Pollock, the master of gestural overstatement, meets his minimal match in Lascano’s subtle, interior pieces.
The two artists joined in the ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Conrad Manila general manager Fabio Berto, SM Hotels and Conventions Corporation president Elizabeth Sy, SM Hotels and Conventions Corporation EVP Peggy Angeles, and guest of honor, PG-FLEX Premium Plastic Group president and chairman of Moto-Italia Philippines Inc., who is also currently the board member and treasurer of the Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc.
GM Berto said at the opening, "As part of our ongoing commitment to promote Philippine arts and culture, Conrad Manila invites our guests and art patrons to behold and experience the interchange of emotions that nature evokes through these artworks.”
Ms. Angeles noted at the opening: “Their styles are very different. Capili brings to life the vibrant symphony of his inspirations—nature and music. Lascano invites us into a field of serenity and introspection. Their work challenges, soothes, and inspires.”
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“Interchange” by Rosscapili and Rico Lascano is on display at Gallery C, Conrad Manila until Aug. 3.
