Articles of Disagreement at The Lopez Museum

I’ve visited a couple of museums already and it’s mostly because of my love for art and history.To name a few I’m a fan of the works of Fernando Amorsolo, Carlos “Botong” Francisco, Vicente Manansala, Juan Luna, and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo. I wish I could own one, but I would have to be a billionaire to be able to. In Pasig there are only two museum that I know of, the Pasig City Museum and Library, and the Lopez Museum.

I’ve been to Pasig City Museum and Library a couple of times because it’s just a 5 minute walk from home, and although it’s just a 15 minute ride from home, I have not been to the Lopez Museum. I probably would have not visited it if not for the invite I received for the Articles of Disagreement Exhibit. Located at the ground floor of the Benpres Building, Exchange Road corner Meralco Avenue in Pasig, the Loez Museum may not look a museum for the outside but it has a very rich collection of art and history.

Articles of Disagreements was born out of a specific pool of major texts found in the Lopez Library archives and focuses on the reflexive practices of contemporary artists, as diverse occupations in the Arts are explored to unburden itself from established institutional forms.

The exhibit starts at the Cafe of Letters room. A small room that can stimulate ideas because of free-flowing coffee and wall arts. Coffee drinkers will also find inspiration from the magazine and comics cutouts that are laminated on the tables. The dim lights, warm colors, and the scent of coffee makes you want to stay a bit more.

Before you get to the next room, there will be photographs by Roman Albano on the hallway documenting of the curatorial show, Black 1971.

The room on the right shows the works of Maria  Curz, Nena Saguil, Fernando Zobel, and Alfonso Ossorio. Germany-based artist Maria Cruz’s work Obsession with Circles tackles her journey in to helping out a community, the circles symbolize a coin and each circle represents a person that has help her raise fund for her cause. The photo below show works of Fernando Zobel and on the right shows a copy of his modules during the time when he was still teaching art classes.

There a few more paintings in this room, there is the Shaping Mist by Alfonso Ossorio, and there’s an art by conceptual artist-curator Nilo Ilarde that says “There’s always a nail in a wall somewhere that can take a painting“.

Once you go out side and proceed to the room across, it also displays another art by Nilo Ilarde – Nesting with Cubes, which is his tribute to  the Magnet Gallery which has already been taken down. The pieces of wood were actually from the walls of the old gallery signifying that art is endless.

What I find most interesting is Ben Calubayan‘s Employee 55. Based on his everyday journey from home to work and back. He documents his patterns, paths, and even the time spent on his travels. The things that we don’t usually pay attention to, actually has a bigger meaning if you look deeper in to it.. Notebooks, timesheets, and even his payslip is displayed in his exhibit.

My favorite part of the Lopez Museum is the room where the works of National Artists are displayed. Works of Juan Luna, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, and also Cesar Legaspi.

I like how Lopez Museum mixes different art forms – modern, contemporary, classical, and others. My favorite are the paintings, I just wish I can own one of them. Catch the Arts of Disagreements Exhibit from September 19 – December 20 at the Lopez Museum. Operating hours are 8:00 am – 5:00 pm Mondays to Saturdays.