Provenance: Provenance: Pinto Art Museum, Antipolo City

ABOUT THE WORK

Defining what art is has been the subject of numerous cultural, philosophical, and artistic investigations. For Filipino contemporary artist Jayson Oliveria, the topic up for discussion should not be what art is but what art can do. Although Oliveria’s approach can be defined as an intersection of popular 20th-century styles such as primitivism, art brut, and arte povera, his pieces are not a result of a conscious dogmatic methodology but a subconscious desire to freely express oneself. His works tread the line between the evocative and the profane, the tasteful and the kitschy, and the coherent and the dissonant. By doing so, Oliveria presents us with a novel reimagining of what art is and what art can be. His paintings defy the conservative limitations of the medium by adopting and lifting imagery and symbols from other artistic media such as sculpture, graffiti, and even literary text. At first glance, this results in a chaotic diaspora of elements. But closer investigation reveals a nuanced and informed whole that reverberates within the human condition.