The Childhood Dream Abasolo Yearned For

To dream is to dream big; and to achieve that dream, one must go through trials and tribulations to earn it. Marc Abasolo’s debut exhibition is personal because his longing from wanting a toy car to exclusively doing automotive portraits felt like a surreal full circle moment.

Words Henry Ramirez
Photos courtesy of Joaquin Balolong
August 6, 2026

“The greatest dream is that [the] art experience should be deeply personal.”

Up-and-coming contemporary artist Marc Abasolo successfully launched his first solo exhibition titled “Chrome Dreams of Elsewhere” on July 18 at the Spruce Gallery in Ortigas, Pasig City.

Known for his oil-on-canvas automotive portraits, Abasolo curated his first solo exhibition that was governed entirely through his own artistic vision, which exerted a transformed, tightly cropped, and intensified experience through variations of colors and patterns that symbolized his ambition as a rising star.

“Definitely very exciting,”Abasolo told Art Plus Magazine, quoting how appreciative he was to his curator Ric Gindap and exhibition director Allan “Bolty” Gañgo for handling the positioning of his artworks that was able to put a story and unify the pieces they curated.

The artist also added how thankful he was to his peers, friends, collectors, owners, and the curator for supporting his lifelong dream and enjoying his work, which transcended his hopes as a rookie artist experiencing his pieces being set up and prepared officially for the first time.

Consequently, Gindap also expressed how proud he was of Abasolo's accomplishment as a rookie stepping into the contemporary scene, noting the profoundness of each portrait that skillfully utilized a technique dating back from the renaissance age.

“It’s almost [a] self-portrait and autobiographical in a very compelling way because you don’t see his face. If you have to sum up the entire exhibition and the exhibition notes, this is the piece that represents everything.

Even the renaissance masters, they include themselves in the pieces [they create]—some are very subtle. Everybody from Raphael to Caravaggio, [they] have been doing this kind of [technique], a sort of embedding themselves in the piece, not because of ego but because it’s like a signature,” Gindap said in an interview.

The curator exemplified how Abasolo has “that kind of technical mastery” with the technique in his portraits, and this birthed him an idea of giving the full authorship of the story behind the exhibit solely to Abasolo.

*Chrome Dreams of Elsewhere by Marc Abasolo on Spruce Gallery*

When asked why he ultimately chose that decision, he said he felt as if Abasolo could have something very exciting to say, and Gindap was very much satisfied with the performance that followed.

Grasping at the Hands of Longingness

Notwithstanding his success as an artist, Abasolo mentioned his struggles growing up. He told how his parents refrained him from owning toys and would only take him to toy stores to look around and check out the cars.

That was how his craft began—from excess papers and pens at home, he would always draw his favorite cars that he wanted to have, and yearned for the opportunity of wanting toys for his own.

“So, it started there—the yearning, the desire. It started from wanting the toys. But I've always been obsessed, I've always admired cars and vehicles and it never left me. Maybe the design, the colors, [and] the chrome,” he shared.

However, now, he has since moved on into having different aspirations in life and having different dreams and plans. Yet, his paintings have purified his longing with vehicles because it holds stories, ambitions, and symbols that moved him as his inspiration.

“So, the creativity has always been there. And when we were planning this exhibition, he did preliminary sketches. He did a lot of work. And I felt like he was holding his punches. And my role as a curator is to nudge him into 100% pure authorship. I said [to him that] you're allowed to say whatever using the vehicle as a language,” Gindap said.

*Curator Ric Gindap and Artist Marc Abasolo*

Despite Abasolo and Gindap possessing a close relationship with one-another, their journey as partners did not fully materialize into something great until Gindap saw Abasolo’s sketches for the first time.

The art partners said they met in Singapore when Gindap was visiting a client for his brand agency, For Tomorrow; and Abasolo happened to be the guest of the client Gindap visited. After much conversation, Abasolo gave Gindap a parting gift of a moleskin notebook which consists of his sketches.

However, Gindap said he has since not used the moleskin notebook gifted to him because he was preserving them.

“I haven’t used that moleskin [notebook] up to now because I’m preserving it. Because I was marveling at how expressive the strokes [were]. But it was very, very expressive,” He said.

Yet, the goal of the exhibition was not to just put paintings on the wall; rather it represents a story that takes a curatorial process by directors, artists, and curators in order to have a successful exhibition. And Gindap has said it best, that very perfect art is “never, ever relatable because as human beings, we’re not hotwired for perfection.”

“When you go in here for the first time, the minute you enter [the room], in 15 seconds, it creates a certain feeling, it extracts a certain kind of emotion from you. And when we did that [to you], that's a job accomplished for us,” he added.

With the success of his debut exhibition, many of his onlookers are asking the next chapter of Abasolo, and he said he still wanted that childlike imagination alive in his paintings.

As societal issues continue to cascade all over the country—such as socioeconomic problems, wars, fighting—Abasolo’s vision as an artist stems from making his artworks happy, alive, and making an imaginative moment of someone’s life. And both Abasolo and Gindap are optimistic on what is next for the duo.

Gindap shared that as long as the longing, the sense of wonder, and that sense of looking at a piece and feeling an emotional tension are present, then they are very much enthusiastic of his return.

“And then I think that degree of immediacy that commands attention with such urgency is uh what made the vision of Marc, the curation and the staging come together in creating this very vibrant, joyful and emotional exhibition,” Gindap added.

Long after the strokes fade, Chrome Dreams of Elsewhere holds a valuable piece in Abasolo because it encapsulates the yearning and longing he experienced as a child; and the tragedy of humanity when they forget their childlike wonders are his intention to fulfill that void. As a rookie in the contemporary art scene, he cannot remain stagnant, he wanted to showcase to the people his work and his hunger that was planted to him.

The Childhood Dream Abasolo Yearned For

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