Jane Lombard Gallery is pleased to present Island Time, a group exhibition curated by gallery artist James Clar. Featuring a wide range of practices, the show explores the subjective notion of time and its social, cultural, and historical fluidity from the lens of emerging and mid-career artists in the Philippines. Island Time includes work by Poklong Anading, Miguel Aquilizan, Leslie De Chavez, Corinne De San Jose, Kiko Escora, Gregory Halili, KoloWn, Christina Lopez, Gary-Ross Pastrana, Luis Antonio Santos, Shireen Seno, and Derek Tumala.
Techno-Orientalism: Imagining Asia in Speculative Fiction, History, and Media offers a theoretical foundation for the exhibition’s central premise. Described as a concept that “…symmetrically and yet contradictorily…defines a modern West by producing an oppositional and premodern East,” techno-Orientalism refers to “a collusive, futurized Asia” that “further affirm[s] the West’s centrality” (David S. Roh 2015, 7). From this othered perspective, however, artists who have been subjected to the techno-Orientalist gaze intend to creatively subvert the dynamic to their own aims.
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The exhibition’s title reclaims the term from its derogatory origins, often used to denote a disordered, non-rigorous, non-Western environment that runs on its own mechanisms and systems. In an act of defiant decoloniality, such alternative temporalities are embraced by the selected artists as spaces to exist outside of Western hegemony. Within the psychological, conceptual, and communal realm of “island time,” Clar aims to curate a meaningful exchange between diverse artists at the leading edge of contemporary art in the Philippines.
Island Time hopes to challenge public expectations for a summer group show, provoking viewers to confront the elements of history and identity that run counter to their preconceived notions.
The exhibition is on view through July 29 at Jane Lombard Gallery in New York City.
For more information, visit janelombardgallery.com.
Source: Hyperallergic.com