ARTISTS
Cordero revisits zombies
Louie Cordero鈥檚 work may be a hideous sight. Yet the imageries of mutilated bodies, brain tissue, organs, flesh and blood that abound in his work
Jill Wong / C-Arts
27 Apr, 2010
Louie Cordero鈥檚 work may be a hideous sight. Yet the imageries of mutilated bodies, brain tissue, organs, flesh and blood that abound in his work have drawn a niche following among collectors the world over.聽
Evidence of this was seen in the exhibition Soft Death that featured 15 of Cordero鈥檚 new works at Hong Kong鈥檚 Osage Soho. Initially scheduled to last from 16 January to 28 February 2010, the exhibition All images: courtesy of Osage Contemporary Art Gallery was extended until 21 March due to positive response that saw more than half of the works sold to collectors.聽
Eugene Tan, the director of exhibitions, said, 鈥淲hile there has been a growing interest in Filipino art in recent years, following the trend in Asian art, the reception of Louie鈥檚 work is quite unique in that he is one of the few Filipino artists whose works have been well received internationally, in the United States and to a certain extent, in Europe. For example, he will be included in a forthcoming publication surveying some of the most interesting and significant artists from around the world.鈥澛�
Born in 1978 in Manila, Cordero trained as a painter and graduated with a BA in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines in 2001. He was a recipient of The Cultural Center of the Philippines Thirteen Artists Awards in 2006, one of the winners of the inaugural Ateneo Art Awards in 2004 and was the grand prizewinner, painting category, in the 8th Annual Freeman Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, USA in 2002-2003.聽
Tan first saw Cordero鈥檚 work in Manila in 2007 when he was a judge for the Ateneo Art Awards that year. 鈥淎s part of that trip, I spent some time meeting artists and getting to know the scene there and met him then. I kept in touch with him and subsequently invited him to participate in an exhibition I curated in Taipei, before beginning to work with him at Osage,鈥� he added.聽
Among the 15 new works exhibited at Osage Soho were paintings, drawings and a video animation in which a zombie was shown repeatedly diving in and out of what looks like a sea of palpitating brain membrane. Tan noted, 鈥淎lthough Louie is known as a painter, he works with a variety of mediums. The drawings, for example, have rarely been shown, but because I feel that it is an important part of his practice, they are the focus of his exhibition this time, and illustrate the relationship between them and the paintings. The video animation should also be viewed in this way.聽
鈥淟ouie鈥檚 work is distinctive because it defies easy categorization. His work draws from various facets of Filipino culture and society to present a unique perspective about contemporary society in the Philippines.鈥澛�
Cordero鈥檚 works draw inspirations from the streets, idiosyncratic semiology of various subcultures, popular culture, myths and mass media. Zombies and savagely mutilated bodies are entangled in intricate mazes of intestines and brain membranes and incongruous objects, a hint perhaps at the contradiction underlying contemporary culture.聽
Cordero said, 鈥淚 have been attracted by lots of things, from my recollections from memory, found images, my surroundings - here in Manila I was saturated with bloody Christian imagery and too much Filipino B movies, pulp horror betamax tapes which can be rented, and far out Japanese TV shows, obscure and really bad comics. In the 80s, when I was growing up in the Philippines, there were lots of really bad American junk films on TV and Mad magazine for my literary diet.聽
鈥淚 think where I stand right now is not reflecting just pure Filipino issues. [In] our whole society, being a Filipino is mixed up through and through, so many different influences and histories running through our veins; do we have an identity, or just a memory of an identity or nostalgia for it?鈥澛�
Elaborating on the video animation that he created for Soft Death, Cordero noted, 鈥淚 have been doing animations for quite some time now. I am interested in the whole music video and animations that go with it since I grew up in what people call the MTV generation. I have done some animations for some underground bands here in Manila. For this work, I wanted to do a work that is just like a mantra, continuum 鈥� a neverending sequence or a loop, like those you could find on those late night Indian channels on cable in which you could see a god doing repetitive stuff with just a repetitive chant in the background. It鈥檚 like I could see that for the whole day and work with it, hypnotizing you 鈥� of not sensing what you are doing 鈥� a person (a zombie) diving inside, a never-ending dive into the abyss. How the audience should read into that? They鈥檙e allowed to read as many things as they want from it or just dive in.鈥澛�
The zombie, which has an iconic presence in Cordero鈥檚 work, is a reflection of what the artist is now and what life appears to him to be like now, he said. 鈥淏eing brain dead. So much external stimulus, so much post-apocalyptic detritus, garbage, clashing noises, contrasts. It鈥檚 tragic, sense-numbing and you have to retain your humor,鈥� he added.聽
鈥淚 like watching B movies, horror movies. For the last few years now I have been revisiting this zombie thing because I鈥檓 fascinated with 鈥榓rt meets adolescent angst鈥�, which I relate to zombies and American junk culture. I like the whole concept of making something and knowing that it鈥檚 fake. It鈥檚 like that rawness, quirkiness, comics, hoarding of images, scary and gory stuff, cheap thrills, drive-in movies, movie posters, African movie billboard, tiki sculptures, merchandise, cheap religious statues, Mexican retablos, the really awful craft stuff. I do also non-zombie stuff, I think just to people, the zombie has become iconic,鈥� he said.聽
Like B movies, Cordero鈥檚 work isn鈥檛 easy to stomach. Yet admirers of his genre will solemnly swear that they love it to death.
Evidence of this was seen in the exhibition Soft Death that featured 15 of Cordero鈥檚 new works at Hong Kong鈥檚 Osage Soho. Initially scheduled to last from 16 January to 28 February 2010, the exhibition All images: courtesy of Osage Contemporary Art Gallery was extended until 21 March due to positive response that saw more than half of the works sold to collectors.聽
Eugene Tan, the director of exhibitions, said, 鈥淲hile there has been a growing interest in Filipino art in recent years, following the trend in Asian art, the reception of Louie鈥檚 work is quite unique in that he is one of the few Filipino artists whose works have been well received internationally, in the United States and to a certain extent, in Europe. For example, he will be included in a forthcoming publication surveying some of the most interesting and significant artists from around the world.鈥澛�
Born in 1978 in Manila, Cordero trained as a painter and graduated with a BA in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines in 2001. He was a recipient of The Cultural Center of the Philippines Thirteen Artists Awards in 2006, one of the winners of the inaugural Ateneo Art Awards in 2004 and was the grand prizewinner, painting category, in the 8th Annual Freeman Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, USA in 2002-2003.聽
Tan first saw Cordero鈥檚 work in Manila in 2007 when he was a judge for the Ateneo Art Awards that year. 鈥淎s part of that trip, I spent some time meeting artists and getting to know the scene there and met him then. I kept in touch with him and subsequently invited him to participate in an exhibition I curated in Taipei, before beginning to work with him at Osage,鈥� he added.聽
Among the 15 new works exhibited at Osage Soho were paintings, drawings and a video animation in which a zombie was shown repeatedly diving in and out of what looks like a sea of palpitating brain membrane. Tan noted, 鈥淎lthough Louie is known as a painter, he works with a variety of mediums. The drawings, for example, have rarely been shown, but because I feel that it is an important part of his practice, they are the focus of his exhibition this time, and illustrate the relationship between them and the paintings. The video animation should also be viewed in this way.聽
鈥淟ouie鈥檚 work is distinctive because it defies easy categorization. His work draws from various facets of Filipino culture and society to present a unique perspective about contemporary society in the Philippines.鈥澛�
Cordero鈥檚 works draw inspirations from the streets, idiosyncratic semiology of various subcultures, popular culture, myths and mass media. Zombies and savagely mutilated bodies are entangled in intricate mazes of intestines and brain membranes and incongruous objects, a hint perhaps at the contradiction underlying contemporary culture.聽
Cordero said, 鈥淚 have been attracted by lots of things, from my recollections from memory, found images, my surroundings - here in Manila I was saturated with bloody Christian imagery and too much Filipino B movies, pulp horror betamax tapes which can be rented, and far out Japanese TV shows, obscure and really bad comics. In the 80s, when I was growing up in the Philippines, there were lots of really bad American junk films on TV and Mad magazine for my literary diet.聽
鈥淚 think where I stand right now is not reflecting just pure Filipino issues. [In] our whole society, being a Filipino is mixed up through and through, so many different influences and histories running through our veins; do we have an identity, or just a memory of an identity or nostalgia for it?鈥澛�
Elaborating on the video animation that he created for Soft Death, Cordero noted, 鈥淚 have been doing animations for quite some time now. I am interested in the whole music video and animations that go with it since I grew up in what people call the MTV generation. I have done some animations for some underground bands here in Manila. For this work, I wanted to do a work that is just like a mantra, continuum 鈥� a neverending sequence or a loop, like those you could find on those late night Indian channels on cable in which you could see a god doing repetitive stuff with just a repetitive chant in the background. It鈥檚 like I could see that for the whole day and work with it, hypnotizing you 鈥� of not sensing what you are doing 鈥� a person (a zombie) diving inside, a never-ending dive into the abyss. How the audience should read into that? They鈥檙e allowed to read as many things as they want from it or just dive in.鈥澛�
The zombie, which has an iconic presence in Cordero鈥檚 work, is a reflection of what the artist is now and what life appears to him to be like now, he said. 鈥淏eing brain dead. So much external stimulus, so much post-apocalyptic detritus, garbage, clashing noises, contrasts. It鈥檚 tragic, sense-numbing and you have to retain your humor,鈥� he added.聽
鈥淚 like watching B movies, horror movies. For the last few years now I have been revisiting this zombie thing because I鈥檓 fascinated with 鈥榓rt meets adolescent angst鈥�, which I relate to zombies and American junk culture. I like the whole concept of making something and knowing that it鈥檚 fake. It鈥檚 like that rawness, quirkiness, comics, hoarding of images, scary and gory stuff, cheap thrills, drive-in movies, movie posters, African movie billboard, tiki sculptures, merchandise, cheap religious statues, Mexican retablos, the really awful craft stuff. I do also non-zombie stuff, I think just to people, the zombie has become iconic,鈥� he said.聽
Like B movies, Cordero鈥檚 work isn鈥檛 easy to stomach. Yet admirers of his genre will solemnly swear that they love it to death.
