Mark Andy Garcia (b. 1984)
Prayer
signed and dated 2020 (lower right)
oil on canvas
47" x 47" (119 cm x 119 cm)


Accompanied by a certificate issued by West Gallery andsigned by the artist confirming the authenticity of this lot

EXHIBITED:West Gallery, To Live, Quezon City, June 25 - July 25, 2020


The works of Mark Andy Garcia are marked by a sense of wonder and spirituality. For Garcia, a certain level of transcendence is needed as he explores innocence and memory, ways of seeing and personal modes of creation. His brushwork and layers of spontaneous splatters of color are consistent, and he unapologetically taps into personal recollections to produce deeply informed pieces. In this piece titled Prayer, the artist seemingly relates the act of both remembering and reflecting to the personal and ritualistic act of prayer. The way Garcia produces his works creates a hazy and almost dreamlike effect that mirrors how memories often appear to us; in abstract and vague forms in which emotions either cloud or exaggerate certain elements. But Garcia also uses the fact that despite the obtuseness of our memories as an accurate method of recollection, through this work he emphasizes how we still cling to these notions in the same way faith operates; through unclear yet powerful ideas that do not adhere to any certain logic but the human belief. The critic Alice Guillermo has noted that among the contemporary artists in the local art scene, Garcia is the most autobiographical, as his works are likened to glimpses of his journal of personal experiences. (J.D.)