Antimemory Antiarchive - A Solo Exhibition by Buen CALUBAYAN

Mind Set Art Center is honoured to present Antimemory Antiarchive, the first ever solo exhibition of Filipino artist Buen CALUBAYAN in Taiwan. The exhibit is composed of 17 of the artist’s newest oil paintings and assemblages. 

In Antimemory Antiarchive, CALUBAYAN presents his latest exploration of the process of seeing and interpretation. The artist places, next to selected paintings, items that informed his creative process, such as drafts, archival photos and other graphic materials. By doing so, the artist presents the completed painting in a deconstructive manner and allows the audience to interpret the paintings based from a multitude of perspectives. 

CALUBAYAN’s artworks contain a lot of personal and historical significance. The artist has attempted to explore and reconstruct the Filipino identity by collecting what, at first glance, can be considered mundane objects. By observing a growing archive of such objects, the artist explores and interprets the changing national identity throughout the turmoil in recent centuries. 

The artist has also explored how the manner through which the audience sees his artwork could alter their interpretations. In a rather experimental move, CALUBAYAN placed a viewing instruction in front of his oil painting in a previous exhibit to challenge the viewers to not follow the conventional vantage point perspective. In Antimemory Antiarchive, CALUBAYAN is posing a new set of questions to the viewers: as he deconstructs the narrative and blurs the boundaries of his paintings, how would the audience react and interpret?