Upcoming Exhibition:
'Encounters with Abstraction'
14th to 31st October, 2008

Sublime, emotionally charged, painterly, lyrical, Gestural are just some adjectives to describe these Abstract paintings.

The aim of this exhibition is to bring into focus Abstract art, an art form that is not as accessible as figuration and realism. Then again, it is Abstract art that accord greater self-expression that these artists seek with freshness of spirit and modernism freedom.

For Filipino painter Edwin Wilwayco, painting is discovery. " Everytime you make a mark on canvas, all sorts of possibilities open up and all sorts of problems to which you have to find solutions." said the artist. In his works he explore the rhythm and mood, the drama of symphonies of Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Stravinsky with the in -your - face bold brushworks. In a piece titled Scherzo X, the painting is dramatised in bluish/purplish hues in a polyphony of paint, which makes one feel as if one is looking at the turbulence of the creative process.

And in the works of Australian artist Waldemar Kolbusz, his preoccupation is to paint works which generate an original awareness of colour. His colours exude a remarkable luminescence. Abstraction was a natural progression for him having experimented with landscape and realistic paintings. "Abstract art is a completely different way for me to paint as I'm not starting off with a photograph or a concept; it's far more subconscious - it's like allowing the painting to evolve on its own rather than completely making it what I want it to be. There's a lot of risk in that." said the artist.

This exhibition seeks to understand the process these artists go through to make distinctive works. Paint is employ in a sculptural way that assert a very physcial presence. There is no hint of a figure or landscape in the composition, just paint and paint alone. After all these are pure paintings. Paintings that invite our participation and anticipation of their forms, shapes and lines. The process and act of painting are evident and immediately felt - no less our emotion.