Casa Bella hosts a limited-run exhibit that bends space and time—and exposes everything in between
Art and furniture design collide in this latest exhibit by contemporary sculptor Jinggoy Buensuceso. The show is part of Casa Bella Home and Living’s anniversary celebration and is held at the flagship store at 8 Jupiter St., Bel-Air in Makati.
MB Lifestyle Online attended the event and was able to talk to the artist regarding this dream collaboration.
"Casa Bella is a great stage for my art to be imagined in people’s homes," says Buensuceso. "Doing this collaboration with Stephanie Coyiuto-Tay and Joseph Tay and the Casa Bella team makes me feel so welcomed and part of their family."
A great stage indeed. Buensuceso’s works perfectly complement the posh interiors of the gallery-slash-furniture store. In Casa Bella, one cannot differentiate art from furniture and, in that space, they are one and the same.
"Celebrated designers of our furniture are also artists and sculptors, such as Ron Arad who has designed pieces for Moroso. Thus, it seems like a great idea to invite a celebrated Filipino contemporary sculptor, Jinggoy Buensuceso, to collaborate with Casa Bella for an exhibit," explains Joseph Tay, during our interview.
"I would see his works in my friend’s homes," Stephanie shared. "When I reached out to him, we realized that we had the same passion in connecting people to a world of design through different methods."
From order to dis/order
"The universe is forever evolving and unfolding in an infinite sequence which presents us with unfamiliar landscapes. This repeated occurrence becomes therapeutic to our body and soul such that this seemingly disrupted reality slowly becomes our chrysalis, our cosmos," explains Buesuceso about his 24-piece collection.
The exhibit, titled Dis/Order, takes inspiration from the universe, according to the artist. He wanted to show the chaos, the destruction, and the forever cycle of end and rebirth, destruction and creation of our universe.
Buensuceso’s pieces, in their fantastical shapes and colors, indeed evoke these questions and ideas in the viewer’s minds. "Art communicates through many forms, connecting people in different ways and evoking emotions through the senses. These may be present via art sculptures and even through furniture design—both of which can work together to fill up an inhabiting space," according to the Casa Bella team. Buensuceso’s pieces are a paragon of this idea.
We saw his trademark folded metalwork, bent into seemingly impossible angles and patterns. Each origami-like folded pieces tell a story, according to Buensuceso. Each difficult push and pull, when bending the metal, is part of the hardship the artist went thru in trying to tell his story.
"Solidifying a concept, executing it into a tangible piece, and finding the right balance of mind, heart, and soul is my biggest challenge. It’s about overcoming the uncertainty of how materials will work with the concept and putting your story and soul in every piece," the artist explained.
After giving shape to his pieces, Buensuceso would then use his trademark powder-coating technique, which imbues the metals with different hues and patterns.
It's boiling out there
We could not let the chance escape and asked the artist the state of the art world, post-pandemic. His views were in tune with a lot of the other artists we talked to.
“It’s boiling. You know what? During the pandemic, ang lakas ng art (the art scene was really strong). The interest was there, the money was there. During the pandemic, people didn’t spend on food, clothes, travel. And, they spent most of their time inside their homes—this is why we did this (the exhibit). They spent their time imagining and filling up the spaces in their homes," explained Buensuceso.
And, to him, we are still in that place. The boiling point where art pieces are still in high demand due to the pandemic. "And in this regard, Casa Bella is the perfect venue for me to showcase my pieces. The demand for pieces that can be visualized and placed inside their homes."
Jinggoy Busensuceso then continued to compare the state of the art scene with the word “boiling.” To him, artists, during the lockdowns, built up steam while hibernating and stewing in their homes and studios. And now that everything is slowly going back to normal, the pressure cooker is about to hit the boiling point.
"During the pandemic, kinulong mo siya, tapos pinakuluan mo, and habang nahandun, akala mo walang ganap (you boxed them in, then boiled them, all the while, you thought that nothing was happening). And now, everything is at their boiling point. In terms of creativity for the artists and in terms of the demand with the buyers and collectors. Pare, ngayon, until now mas lumalakas, and hindi ko alam kung kalian sasabog (it’s still getting stronger, and I don’t know when it will explode)," Jinggoy quips.
Explore Buensuceso’s works at Casa Bella Home and Living. 8 Jupiter St., Bel-Air in Makati. The Dis/Order exhibit will run until Dec. 18, 2022.