To Hedonopolis, From Melancolony: Current Topography of Filipino Visual Arts

About the Artworks and Artists

To Hedonopolis, From Melancolony is a topographic exercise to picture the terrain in which current Filipino American art is produced. Arising from the amalgamation of psychoanalysis, colonization, migration, artistic production, and survival in the 21st Century, this exhibition diagrams two possible topographic systems developing within this map: Hedonopolis and Melancolony.

The twin systems of Hedonopolis and Melancolony provide both refuge and exposure to surveyors taking measure of a landscape continuously shifting. The elements that help define the boundaries of the system are also the elements that keep these two systems dynamic and indefinable. To gain an understanding of these two systems, one must reflect on moments in time and space when the shifting landscape is frozen long enough to gaze out into the panorama and embed visual delights in memory. In this frozen moment, the viewer sees Melancolony, a land of nostalgia, memory, and longing or Hedonopolis, a virtual city of erasure, innovation, and pleasure.

About the Curators

Works by Terry Acebo Davis, Yason Banal, Genara Banzon, Leo Bersamina, Emily Caisip, Crisanta de Guzman, Cirilo Domine, Reanne Estrada, John Yoyogi Fortes, Vince Golveo, Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza, Johanna Poethig, Charles Valoroso, Carlos Villa, and Jenifer Wofford.

Curated by Rico Reyes, To Hedonopolis, From Melancolony: Current Topography of Filipino Visual Arts looks at the vast terrain of Filipino American visual art production. The viewer is no longer presented with points on a map to determine location but rather, the points are grouped to define regions or systems.

Opening Reception

Thursday, September 6, 2007, 4 pm to 6 pm
Thacher Gallery, Gleeson Library

Artist Talk

With curator Rico Reyes, Genara Banzon
Hosted by Mona Lisa Yuchengco, UPSP
Thursday, September 2, 2007, 3 pm to 6 pm
Maraschi Room, Fromm Hall, USF

Filipino Student Exhibition

October 8 to October 19
Curated by Charleston Daulo and Nancy DiCianni
Crossroads Gallery, USF

The Thacher Gallery is open to the public from 12-6 p.m. daily, except during library closures. Please confirm the library schedule prior to visiting, especially during holidays.