A joint exhibit of Juvenal Sansó and Madrid artist Cristina Gamón is a dialogue between two generations.

Images courtesy of Fundacion Sansó.
September 7, 2023

The moon has, for millennia, been one of the more mystical of our celestial bodies. The recent Super Blue Moons which occurred in August have been symbolic of change and of resetting our intentions. These lunar phases are central to the theme of Fundacion Sansó’s “Once in a Blue Moon,” a joint exhibit between Presidential Medal of Merit Awardee Juvenal Sansó and Madrid artist Cristina Gamón, done in partnership with Galerie Stephanie.

In “Once in a Blue Moon,” Gamón creates a seven-piece exhibition in reference not only to Sansó’s moons, which are omnipresent in his works, but also in reference to the lunar coincidences which happened whenever she visited Metro Manila. Gamón highlights how special these visits are, as the notion of “once in a blue moon” pertains to the rare lunar phenomenon.

This exhibit, which runs until September 23, is divided into two parts; the lower gallery of Fundacion Sansó focuses on Juvenal Sansó’s 1970s-‘80s cliché verre (painted and manipulated 35mm slides) exhibited in small light boxes. These experimental miniature slides are juxtaposed against a large and dramatic abstract painting inspired by cliché verre patterns, which Sansó created later in his life, during the 1990s-2000s.

The second part of the exhibit can be found in the main gallery and mezzanine floor of the museum. Here, more of Sansó’s Abstract series of paintings are paired with Gamón’s own large-scale abstracts, which have an otherworldly quality, with its atmospheric color and subtle textures resembling the other side of the moon.

A dialogue between two generations

“Once in a Blue Moon” is a visual dialogue between two artists, and an internal dialogue between two generations. “Cristina and Juvenal both have similarities in their art, aside from the fact that they are both Spanish,” says Fundacion Sansó director Ricky Francisco, who curated the show. “Galerie Stephanie and Fundacion Sansó stepped in to create a better dialogue between the two.”

Francisco points out the tangents where Sansó’s and Gamón’s practices and personal lives intersect, and that these similarities show despite differences in time. Sansó made his cliché verre and photographic experiments a decade before Gamón was born. It is also interesting to note that Gamón has never seen Sansó’s cliché verre prior to creating her works, adding another layer of serendipity to the exhibition.

“There are parallelisms between the two artists; Cristina focuses on experimental painting, while Sansó delved in both experimental painting and photography,” Francisco adds. “Both artists explore abstracts as a way of pushing the boundaries of the materials.”

Controlled chaos

Sansó’s cliché verre works are a play on transparency and color; for Gamón, the same elements are imperative as well. Gamón works with acrylic pigment and paint on transparent acrylic sheets, creating large-scale abstracts with a dream-like quality. Plastic is a pervasive material, yet Gamón tweaks it to become an art material; a medium for which these ethereal vistas, bird’s-eye-view areas, or imagined microscopic environments appear.

“The final composition and the color palette are always on my mind from the beginning of the painting process,” Gamón explains, when asked if the end result of her works is planned or totally unexpected. “I am interested in creating a visual vocabulary that belongs to the contemplative and that is when abstraction comes in. I love the challenge of painting only from color, shape, intensity, and gesture. My intentions are built to an aesthetic that seems fresh, dream-like; it may feel almost effortless, but it is indeed a balance of controlled chaos.”

Sansó also explored his own method of controlled chaos with his cliché verre; his early attempts involved physical manipulations to the photographic slides. Later, he used colored ink and paint, which rendered a transparency and rich vibrancy that he loved. “I wanted to explore that technique too, it feels very attractive!” Gamón says about the cliché verre. “Still, I was surprised that Sansó was intrigued by it and had a vision to develop a core of work that at first sight seems so different from his art practice, but in terms of color, makes a lot of sense.”

Moon phases and other concurrences

Gamón points out the mystifying aspect of rare lunar coincidences whenever she traveled to the Philippines for her art. These important moon phases included a Super Blue Moon and a lunar eclipse when Gamón first visited in 2018, a Super Flower Moon when she next visited in 2020, and most recently, another Super Blue Moon which occurred last August 30, 2023, while Gamón was in Manila.

“Every time I visit Manila, I come back with an idea in mind for my next project,” she says. “I knew I wanted to do something moon-related, but I did not expect this to be the occasion until my invitation for this dialogue show. I found it unusual that the naïve motif of the moon was recurring along Sansó’s oeuvre. I knew right then that this was going to be the project. Later, when I booked my flights, I realized that there was, again, an aligned coincidence with the two Super Moons occurring during my visit.”

Aside from the reference to the moon as a solitary motif that is omnipresent in Sansó’s paintings, Gamón also touches on the moon’s association with the eternal return, and how it affects the tides; this exhibit invites us to imagine in her abstracts how the surface of the moon might be like; it may also reference to the movement of tides.

Serendipity in art and life

In its entirety, “Once in a Blue Moon” shows how despite the vast differences in age, time, and space, it seems that people, objects, and ideas interconnect. The serendipitous nature of this exhibition and its internal connections are very apparent to Gamón.

“It could be said that we both experience an inspirational spirit from Romanticism. His seascapes, vistas, and exuberant massive floral compositions evoke to me the proper scenario where the surreal narratives from Magical Realism take place,” she says. “In personal life, I think we both share a strong relation with France, in terms of inspiration, merit, and friendship. I wish to share his profound love for the Philippines, too!”

This artists’ series of exhibitions is part of Fundacion Sansó’s focus on creating dialogues and opening new possibilities with various local and international visual artists.

“Once in a Blue Moon” will run until September 23, 2023 at Fundacion Sansó, 32 V. Cruz St., San Juan; museum hours are Monday to Saturday, 10am to 3pm, closed on holidays. Follow us on Facebook @FUNDACIONSANS0 and @fundacion_sanso on Instagram.