Geraldine's Work

ARTIST NAME: Geraldine Javier

TITLE: Living Images Leaden Lives

LOCATION: Art Center, SM Megamall

ART MOVEMENT: Social Realism and Symbolism

We had very nice weather last Friday, January 11 so I decided to visit the Art Gallery in Megamall. There I found the works of Geraldine Javier. The truth is I was really bewildered on the first paintings I saw. Imagine a painting of a person standing on a stool and her head was not included in the painting. The first thing that instantly went into my mind is that the person committed suicide. On the other hand, who knows what the painter really wants to depict since the head seemed not a very important part of the painting that's why it was excluded. Her works were definitely very striking!

Her medium is oil on canvas. Using combinations of dim colors, she somehow created a feeling of tension and fear. Well, not all of her works were like that. She did a painting of a woman lying on her back seemingly very relaxed but with her head facing the back. She called her work as the “Contemplating Paradise.” In this masterpiece she used oil on canvas and copper tray painting. Another one of her paintings I liked is the image of a black rose. This she called “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not.” It was done using oil on canvas and mixed media.

Another interesting thing about her works was that she had these ornaments fixed right at the side or on top of each painting. Every ornament would have something to do with the masterpiece it was with. An example of this would be her “Do not Feed the Animals” painting. This was an image of a rabbit inside a black box and the ornament she had with is was a carrot. I have no idea if the ornaments were really meant to accompany the paintings or they were only placed there for presentation. Nevertheless, they added to the curiosity of those who look at her works.

By looking at her works I came to realize that she is a Social Realist. Though she would get her ideas from the media, what she would depict are scenes that would somehow define the hardships in reality.

Her works remind me of the famous Filipino painter, Juan Luna. There is a certain similarity I find in their masterpieces. Both would create an image of the hardships that were present in their lifetime. In Juan Luna's “Spolarium” there is the presence of death and hardship as can be clearly seen by those who view it. The same thing is present in the works of Geraldine Javier. Her works however do not include blood or any kind of violence but Death is clearly present. Juan Luna was a famous realist painter in his time. His infamous works were the Death of Cleopatra (1881), Spolarium (1884), Battle of Lepanto (1887), and Tampuhan (1895). He had lots of other works which also depicted the realities and hardships during his time.

Unlike Juan Luna, Geraldine Javier is also a symbolic artist. In her other works I saw in through the internet she would paint dolls and sculptures. She made images of things that were once upon a time important to people. These are things that somehow symbolize how time passes. Her works were infused with a sense of mystery and wonder.

Below are the works of the famous Geraldine Javier that would be found at the Art Gallery of SM Megamall. There are a whole lot more but unfortunately I wasn't able to take a picture of everything. The exhibit is entitled “Living Images Leaden Lives” and curated by Roberto Chabet.