“Delirium”, a group exhibition by Kashu, Dave Lock, and Mel “A73” Araneta

Text and images courtesy of Altro Mondo Creative Space
February 3, 2023

Altro Mondo Art Contemporanea is proud to present Delirium, a group exhibition featuring the works of Kashu, Dave Lock, and Mel "A73" Araneta at the Altro Mondo Creative Space gallery (1159 Chino Roces Ave. San Antonio Village, Makati City). The exhibition will run from 21 January to 18 February 2023.

To enter a state of delirium is to experience a transient, acute intoxication and disturbed consciousness. But it can also mean the reverse, wherein one does not lack certainty of their situation–rather, they're consumed by a rapturous passion, enveloped by ecstasy, euphoria, elation.

It's with these extreme conditions in mind that one can plumb the depths of Delirium, a three-man exhibit featuring the works of experimental artists Kashu, Dave Lock, and Mel "A73" Araneta. Each piece embodies the Grotesque style of art, showcasing the strange, magnificent, and incongruous.

This collection seeks to invoke in viewers a feeling discomfort, but also empathy and even pity. Each artist demonstrates their fascination with the bizarre, manifesting itself in hypnotic and alluring pieces of art.

Kashu (Bryan Casio) is a self-taught artist who draws inspiration from the different realities that humans deny out of selfishness. He aims to expose what his audiences deny in their daily lives, acting as if nothing is happening doing nothing despite seeing the problems that they face

Mel "A73" Araneta is a self-taught sound artist, sculptor, performance artist, and a painter. He creates experimental soundart under his band ETNIKTRONIKA who create music through DIY instruments and sculptural sonic assemblage.

Filipino contemporary artist Dave Lock’s earlier figurative paintings have been called emotionally masticated images, nightmare infested creatures, extreme terminations of beauty–descriptions that imagine his work as symbols of death and fear. Deformities and painterly effacements are a violent layer upon the image, upon the human face or what he calls, “the grand container of all truths.”

The face is turned into a paranoiac phantom laden with multiple images and multiple faces, a container of automatic drawings and expressionistic destruction. But it is in this aspect of his paintings that one can strongly identify Lock’s playfulness, even as he misdirects the viewer with heady explanations for his imagery as philosophical/existential falls from beauty, truth, and grace.

Delirium will be on display at Altro Mondo Creative Space until February 18. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. You may also message us on Viber or WhatsApp at +63 929 709 0396 or call our landline number (02) 8563 6752.