A lawyer by profession and better known as the former general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), Joy Rojas made his formal bow to the art community with his first show Strong Material at the Saturday Group Gallery, on Dec. 2.

As the title suggests, Rojas pursues a strain of abstraction that places deliberate emphasis on the integrity of his material, in the tradition of the French informel and matier or matter painting, initiated by Jean Dubuffet, Jean Fautrier and Georges Mathieu. Diverging from abstraction’s dependence on pure automatism and gestural brush marks,  Rojas opted for the exploration of texture through the use of heavy impastos, applied in vigorous layers to achieve a tactile quality.

 

The result is an expressive visual statement with meanings that have been coaxed out of the rich and rough terrain of primal matter.  Each work is reflective of the artist’s state of mind and emotion, awakened in him by personal memories.

 

Strong Material is also layered with a significant meaning: it is the name of an actual winning racehorse. The painter was once chairman of the Philippine Racing Commission.

For inquiries, visit The Saturday Group Gallery on the 4/L,  Shangrila Mall, East  Wing, EDSA corner Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong City or call 0905-2217830 and 0917-5594462. -