Taurus
Michael Cacnio, Curated by: Cindel Tiausas
May 14-28, 2022

Throughout the ages, the bull has been an immutable feature in man’s record of history through art. The bull is featured even in the oldest cave paintings that recorded human history even before formal written language had been developed. During this period the bull often represented a raw strength that man had sought to tame. But in most depictions, it was the bull’s brawn that triumphed over man’s intellect, and it has been the focus of man’s pursuit to tame and utilize the sheer raw power of the bull. In the ancient world, as the bull became domesticated, the bull’s raw power finally harnessed by man, it had come to be revered as deity, and in many different cultures, symbolized strength, abundance, and power. Particularly in Greek culture, as the domesticated bull became synonymous to riches and bountiful harvests, the bull came to also represent nobility wherein bulls were often the physical manifestations of a god-king. In modern times however, the bull has come to be a portrayal of the human condition. A representation of his struggles, and triumph over difficulties. The ills and pains and struggles of man finally vanquished as they are projected onto the bull as the noble creature that has bought man his atonement. The representation of the bull has come to represent man’s dominion over the earth.

In this exhibition, Michael Cacnio joins the likes of Goya & Picasso in once again immortalizing the Bull, as a symbol of man’s progress. This is most evident in one of Picasso’s most distinguished works “Guernica” in which the bull represents strength and authority. Vincent Marrero, in his book “Picasso and the Bull,” famously wrote of Picasso’s depiction of bulls, “His bulls, quintessentially the bull, are lords of the world in which he paints.” Similarly, in Michael Cacnio’s collection of sculptural pieces, we are being confronted by an aesthetically resilient, and thematically interrelated material of memory and a projection of possibility. By taking daily life as subject matter, while commenting on the everyday aesthetic of Filipino values, he makes work that documents the most poignant moments of our shared and collective experience of recents tragedies and events. In so doing, the artist also aims to illuminate the path we should all forge toward, and that is the path toward change and progress. The works presented in this exhibition aims to be an encouragement that we should charge unrelentingly toward hope, and it does so by telling a story and creating a metaphor, that is the bull.

Michael Cacnio is one of the country’s most sought after sculptors who also creates installations and mixed media artworks. Cacnio tries to increase the dynamic between audience and artist by creating a physical representation of memories and emotions as he seeks to create a dialogue of varying interpretation between his viewers and the art. He is most recognized for his idyllic and archetypal renditions of daily Filipino life such as in his Kite-flier Series and Balloon Series.

This exhibit, a significant deviation from the artist’s established oeuvre, is definitely something to witness and look forward to especially for those who have been following the artist’s body of work. Among the major works to be shown in this exhibition is a 6’ x 8’ larger than life sculpture of a bull that weighs in at almost 1 ton. As it happens, this exhibit also coincides with Michael Cacnio’s 53rd birthday, which will be celebrated during the artist’s reception on May 25, 2022. This event is also the first exhibit in a series of several major exhibitions that is proudly presented by Art Lounge Manila to mark the Grand Opening of its newest space in Molito, Alabang.

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