RONALD VENTURA: Grey Avenue
Ginza New Gallery
2024.01.14 - 02.17
INTRODUCTION
Whitestone Ginza New Gallery presents Ronald Ventura’s latest exhibition titled, “Grey Avenue.”
Ventura previously mounted a large-scale exhibit at Karuizawa New Art Museum in 2021 billed as “An Introspective.” For the artist, it is essential to reconsider and reconstruct his creations, regarding them as part of an ongoing process. There is no such thing as “past works,” since everything is part of a visual journey, a ceaseless undertaking. Compositions are constantly re-contextualized and treated like the ever-changing self or living things shedding their previous “skin” to adapt to new environments. What the artist has explored in series such as “Zoomanities” and “Humanime” — animal-human hybrids entangled in geometric cocoons, as well as a cavalcade of boats, birds of prey, fiestas, medical records and clipboards, traffic signs and quarantine colors signifying restrictions amid pandemics — are revisited every now and then to be put under a new and stranger light.
This show is a continuation of my works regarding the car as a medium of art expression.
For his latest show in Whitestone, Ventura continues his fascination with hyper-cars as both a subject and medium for his art, reimagining them as machines with second layers of skin, making use of the form, precision and swagger of brands such as Porsche and turning them into metaphors for mobility, freedom and hyper-imagination in a world that is becoming more and more restrictive. The act of taking cars out of their usual environs and placing them indoors is considered by Ventura as a wild way of blurring distinctions between the outside and interior worlds — roadblocks be damned.
The artist utilizes carbon fiber — materials used in making cars — as a sort of canvas for his artworks to emphasize how art is not just something to be mounted in one’s parlor and confined to walls, but something that promises the unfettered, untethered, and unrestrained. In rendering speed and sculpting motion, Ronald Ventura is taking his art to strange new places.
Inquiry
If you would like to receive a list of his works, please contact us using the enquiry form below.
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Ronald Ventura × RWB Collaboration
RWB (Rauh-Welt Begriff) is a renowned Porsche tuner based in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Blending Japanese and Euro tuning elements, they have crafted a distinctive and unique RWB style for classic Porsches, captivating car collectors globally beyond the realm of racing circuits.
The renowned and globally captivating classic Porsche styled by Akira Nakai (RWB), renowned for its unique and one-of-a-kind design, showcased Ventura's original skin for the event. This exclusive collaboration, lasting only one day, drew the attention of collectors, art enthusiasts, and car collectors.
Inquiry
If you would like to receive a list of his works, please contact us using the enquiry form below.
Contact usABOUT
RONALD VENTURA
RONALD VENTURA
Ventura’s work features a complex layering of images and styles, ranging from hyperrealism, cartoons and graffiti. He views this layering process as a metaphor for the multifaceted national identity of the Philippines. Over the centuries, the country has been influenced by various occupying powers such as Spain, Japan, and the United States, alongside its underlying indigenous culture, resulting in a complex and sometimes uneasy sense of identity. Ventura explores this phenomenon through a visual dialogue of images, seamlessly blending Eastern and Western aesthetics, high and low art, as well as references to Old Master paintings and Japanese and American cartoons. In addition, he draws attention to the ‘second skin’ of cultural signifiers that each individual carries, often subconsciously. For Ventura, skin serves as an expressive surface, adorned with tattoos, concealed under layers of imagery, or exploding outward to reveal an inner world of fantasy and conflict.
2024.01.14 - 02.17
Ginza New Gallery
Tel: +81 (0)3 3574 6161
Fax: +81 (0)3 3574 9430
Opening Hours: 11:00 - 19:00
Closed: Sunday, Monday