“Catch Me If You Can”
by Migs Villanueva
Opening Reception: October 21, 2019
Exhibition Dates: October 21 to 31, 2019
Venue: Rockwell Powerplant Mall
Rockwell Drive, Estrella
Makati City
Galerie Francesca is pleased to present Catch Me If You Can, Migs Villanueva’s ninth solo exhibition. Villanueva is a
multi-awarded writer, a very much sought after painter, and a former president of the prestigious Saturday Group. She
is known for her refreshingly simplified depiction of children, employing a wabi-sabi style which pares down the
elements of form to their most basic, in order to highlight essence instead. Using the simplest lines and often, only hints
of soft, harmonious color, she is able to convey simplicity and innocence – precious attributes in children, which, we as
adults tend to lose. In Catch Me If You Can, the artist presents twenty-eight artworks which include an introduction of
two new series – the Shroud Series, of which there are nine works, and the Motion Series, of which there are seven
works. Both series take on the idea of activity, movement, and action, in different ways. The latter contains the title
piece of this exhibition, Catch Me If You Can.
Catch Me If You Can, shares the same title as a 2002 movie featuring Leonardo di Caprio as a forger. He becomes so
good at it, and the movie basically involves the chase, until that the FBI eventually seek him out to help them catch other
forgers. The exhibit by Villanueva, poses a similar mischievous, but altogether innocent challenge, often employed by
her grandchildren. Villanueva, who is now a grandmother, insists in giving her grandchildren the right to do as they
please, to prolong their childhood as much as possible. Delighting in their playfulness and carefree innocence, she
paints them in various activities suggesting situations of joyful discovery and make-believe wonder. By sharing her own
experiences through her work, she invites viewers to make their own connection with their own childhood, and
remember their own joys, when they were themselves children. She firmly believes that the world will be a better place
if we think of children, and be as they are. What sets this exhibition apart from her previous works is that the Motion
series present children at play, in the act of moving. This is a departure from the still poses that the children in her work
have previously been depicted in. In this new series, they are rambunctious and playful, as most children are.
The Shroud series, on the other hand, are a natural progression from the wispy and diaphanous depiction she has always
done. The translucent veils which billow around the children add an air of implied movement.
Catch Me If You Can is presented by Galerie Francesca in partnership with Galerie Joaquin at the pop up gallery, R1 level,
Expansion Wing Power Plant Mall Rockwell Center Makati. Opening reception is on October 21, Monday 6pm, exhibit
runs until October 31. For inquiries please contact 02-86592667/02-87239253 or please visit www.galeriefrancesca.com.