The Crown Theater, Quiapo
signed and dated 2011 (lower right)
mixed media on canvas
48" x 48" (122 cm x 122 cm)


PROVENANCE: The Drawing Room



Kawayan de Guia is a versatile artist who explores various creative media including painting, installation, and sculpture. Within his diverse body of work, he frequently incorporates sociopolitical commentary and critiques of consumer culture. De Guia's art is characterized by his irreverent sense of humor and unique aesthetic, through which he unveils hidden layers of profundity in the mundane aspects of daily life. One of de Guia's distinctive techniques is his use of found objects, which he repurposes to create. In this particular piece, de Guia explores the cultural and collective nostalgia surrounding a once towering icon of one of Manila’s central hubs. TItled “The Crown Theatre Quiapo” de Guia presents us with a collage of motifs from and about the titular building. Crown Theatre was among the popular destinations back when Quaipo was seen as one of the centers of the movie theater and cinema industry. In the past, Quiapo was home to some of the city's most prominent movie theaters. At its peak, Quiapo boasted approximately a dozen movie theaters. Among them was Crown, which was situated along the district’s main thoroughfare, easily recognizable because of its iconic neon sign. Eventually, as the golden era of the country’s film industry became eclipsed by dwindling patrons and other factors, Quiapo’s stand-alone cinemas began to shutter their doors. Crown weathered through the worst of it during the 90s and early 2000s before it became among the last to close shop. The iconic structure was then demolished in the 2010s. De Guia’s work can be seen as an exploration not exclusively about the factual history of the building, but the memory contained within. Throughout the use of collage, Kawayan elevates the materiality of the structure into something that is multifaceted in a way that it is remembered, exalted, or even profaned. It reveals to us that something infrastructure, especially something as iconic as the Crown theater, is not merely an amalgamation of steel, concrete, and wood, but something that clings on tightly to the collective consciousness of the public whether we like it or not. (Jed Daya)