ABOUT THE WORK

Caloocan-born Max Balatbat creates art with an unflinching eye and a balance of temperance and spontaneity. Widely known for his series of expressionist house paintings, Balatbat’s incorporations of architectural elements in his compositions are inspired by his architecture background and by his father, who is also an architect. His art demonstrates reconstructed spaces, rendered identity, and translated memory, serving as social commentaries to current times. Different structures and designs, from floor plans to wallpaper designs and patterns of cloth, are all utilized to achieve engaging visual planes and focal points. This piece, featuring a trono, is an encounter to emotive, nostalgic content. It exhibits Balatbat’s genius in using mixed media to evoke specific personal and communal objects and memories. Balatbat took architecture at the Far Eastern University but shifted to fine arts (Major in Advertising) at the University of the East. In 2009, Max won the Il Lorenzo Magnifico Award-Silver Medal at the Florence Biennale. He was also the Philippine representative to the Beijing International Art Biennale In 2015.