JOSE OLARTE
Jose Olarte (b.1993) is an independent filmmaker, interdisciplinary artist, and human rights activist based in Metro Manila, Philippines who works mainly with photography, video, and new media.. His films have been screened at the In Signes Nui Film Festival in Paris (2017), the Interfilm Festival in Berlin (2017), the Globe International Film Festival (GiFF) (2019), and at the 31st and the 32nd Gawad Alternatibo Experimental Film Festival (2019, 2020). His practice involves research, immersion, and community based initiatives with artist-activist groups while his body of works are meant to incite and inspire discourse about collective existence within power structures through slogans and public demands embedded into his work. Through art, Olarte assumes the role of an observer, ally, and propagandist, who makes use of images and objects derived from unfortunate events in the hidden narratives of Philippine history. He speaks to and with the political and strange aesthetics of his generation of artists, activists, designers, musicians, and film-makers through collaborations, exhibitions across Manila, and his production company Barrio99. His interdisciplinary practice has recently extended into sculptures and installations in the style of Arte Povera.
Selected Works
Tertiary Growth (In a future with no trees), 2024, Archival collage on artist cutting mat, governor control panel covers, bolts, stainless steel frame, 36 5/8 x 24 3/4 x 1 1/2 in 93 x 63 x 3.8 cm (JOOA005)
Exit the matrix, enter the gyre, 2024, Lightbox, approx. 23 5/8 x 4 1/8 in approx. 60 x 10.5 cm (JOOA004)
Warmth from the machine., 2024 Stainless steel, reclaimed wood, fire bulb LED, industrial heater tube, bolts, acrylic glass. approx. 14 5/8 x 9 7/8 in approx. 37 x 25 cm Edition of 10 plus 1 AP (JOOA001)
This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper, 2024, Industrial convex mirror on reclaimed wood, LED, laser cut text, acrylic glass, approx. 31 1/2 (diameter) x 4 1/8 in (height) approx. 80 (diameter) x 10.5 cm (height) (JOOA003)
Exhibitions
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Gyre Dominion
18 June - 18 July 2024