Connection
Marko Bello
October 26 to November 19, 2019
The figures inside Marko Bello’s paintings appear to have found themselves at the center of an isolated tableau. On the contrary, the realist images illustrate how man connects with himself and with the rest of the world. In “Connection”, Bello delves into how these relationships exist and occupy our lives.
Thriving on contemporary realism, Bello’s works are charged with a melancholic mood that traverses into enlightenment. Here, the artist creates arresting renditions of the human form placed in a mise-en-scène, which forays into the external and internal connections made by man. In a piece, “Mortal Enemy”, two figures that mirror each other are seen holding the end of a wick and trying to light it with fire. Bello sees this situation as the illustration of the conflicts where our bodies have become hosts in our everyday lives. He says the lighting of the wick is a symbol for our struggles; portraying the way we grapple with emotions, decisions, and all the other things we feel we have no power over.
“Connection” observes the transformations of our links not only to ourselves but also to others. Dominating his works are the blindfolded individuals, which are symbols that human connections are free from any judgments and almost always innocent. Thus, something that cannot be explained but visible. From unconditional love experienced in parenthood to romantic and even spiritual connections, Bello makes us understand through figuration, these associations that we have, and yet, have failed to recognize as important.
While the rest of the works provide an optimistic and idealistic view of these affairs, one painting, “Hari-Harian 2”, sends us a warning. A man with a crown sits and tucks his knees across his chest as half of his face is covered with cloth. Blinded by the truth, Bello paints this image as scenes of contempt for those who worship possessions and develop connections through material things. As they create their kingdom made from gold, what they don’t see is a higher being rising above where no man can ever play god.
What Bello tells us about our earthly lives is that in the end, the ones that we will forever carry are the relationships we nurtured through our capacity to stay in a world where meaningful connections can sometimes lose their grip while we continue to struggle on the ground, making sense out of this life. Pondering through his life’s most meaningful attachments, Bello’s “Connection” is a prompt for us to consider the weight of how we truss people and things to ourselves.
-Gwen Bautista