Untitled

b. 1973, the Philippines: based in Manila

Ronald Ventura often explores themes related to the country's fractured sense of identity - a hybrid of colonial influences from Spain, Japan and the United States. This historical mixture resonates with Ventura's own blended visual style, which fuses hyperrealist painting with graffiti art and various figures from popular culture. In Untitled, the figure, partially submerged in water, is peeling off an outer skin. The concept of a second skin features prominently in Ventura's body of work; it is a trope that can both conceal and reveal fraught inner and outer identities.