Brave New Worlds: Utopia in Dystopia at the MET Museum Manila

From April 26 to June 2, witness and experience a carnivalesque collection of painterly artworks made by more than 20 artists of Filipino and European origin as the Metropolitan Museum of Manila brings you “BRAVE NEW WORLDS: Utopia in Dystopia” in partnership with the Embassy of France in Manila.

“BRAVE NEW WORLDS: My Utopia, Your Dystopia” is an exhibition that shows a convergence of Filipino and foreign visual artists with heavy themes on black humor and dystopic elements present in the heavily urbanized culture of today.

Curated by Filipino painter Manuel Ocampo, he develops this exhibition by featuring at least 20 artists who has shown a particular rising presence in the turn of the 21st Century.

“In this millennium, we are faced with cataclysmic decline of the environment and societies, and artists have dealt or anticipated this world on the verge of collapse,” said Manuel Ocampo who's known for capturing pop sub-cultures on his canvasses.

Brave New Worlds will feature a variety of contemporary artworks showing parallelisms of practice among artists who struggle to make sense of a society facing moral, ideological, and environmental degradation.

Included in this exhibition are French artists such as Damien Deroubaix, a writer and painter known for his violent images usually containing grotesque monster figures and graphics.

Hervé de Rosa, who’s known for his works on vibrant and unique characters reflect his love for a low-brow, or “kitsch” art style.

Myriam Mechita, a teacher and artist who makes use of common objects like pearls, embroidery, and sequins to assemble contradictory images.

Fabrice Hyber, who accumulates his philosophical ideas on ecology and society and propagates it in his drawings, paintings, and even installations.

Witness Filipino humor mirror its foreign and dystopian counterparts.
French video and film screenings will be on view in May at the MET Lab.

In line with the exhibit, catch French artist Fabrice Hyber and Manuel Ocampo in Manila for a meet-and-greet at the MET on May 21, Wednesday at Tall Galleries, 3PM.  

The exhibition is open to the public on April 26 and will run until June 2, 2014 at the MET’s Tall Galleries.

Visit the Metropolitan Museum Manila at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Manila. Museum hours are from 10am to 5:30pm, Monday to Saturday; and closed on Sundays and holidays.

For more information, call (02) 708-7828 or email info@metmuseum.ph