Geraldine Javier belongs to a new generation of young Filipino artists whose interests are variegated and extensive, and who, unlike their social-realist predecessors, are engaged in pursuing the personal and the idiosyncratic.
Read MoreJaviers’s works are charged with tension and provocation, combining cool, calculated sophistication with raw urban grit. Images of death, misery, dysfunctional relationships, and emotional violence are recurrent themes. Her world thrives on complex, viscous thoughts and intimations, silent tensions and implosions. At first sight, the specific work on show carries strong reference to a sacred altar-piece. While Javier‘s interest in religious iconography is connected to her own biography, having lived and struggled with the catholic culture in the Philippines, her work is devoid of any affiliation with a particular religion. It rather aims at communicating universal, collective values.
“I had a primary and secondary Catholic education. The nuns taught us of the sacrifices of Jesus and the other martyrs and from this I can deduce that the catholic religion‘s foundation was built on blood and guilt as a consequence. The same guilt that the church exploits as it continues to exert an almost authoritarian influence on Philippine society and our government to the point of paralysis in terms of decision and policy making“. (Geraldine Javier, 2011). Since 2004, Geraldine has been exhibiting her work internationally. In 2003 she was awarded with the “Thirteen Artists Award”, issued by the Cultural Centre of the Philippines (CCP), Manila. Today, she is recognized as a leading figure in contemporary Filipino art both on a local and international level.
