Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

Making the Familiar Unfamiliar. Call it an exploding horseman or a contemporary take on a study for the Sforza monument, in pop fashion, Ventura shows the dynamic form of a horse metamorphosing into a machine. The art of Ronald Ventura has moved inexorably from the studied urban realism to a world of fantasy and then to a deeply persona l surrealistic style that better reflects his vision of the world. He has drawn on a wide range of international influences and experiences to develop a style that speaks beyond the limits of cultural boundaries. Every line in this work pulsates with movement. Like a picture within a picture, it is filled with zigzag rhythms even the taut reins won’t hold still. The customary hatch marks have in some places turned to zigzags because they were made with such energy, having been done in the versatile medium of oil.