“At This Rate, We Are Both Doomed”: Solo show by Arno Salvador at Art Elaan

Like many of us, Arno Salvador was one of the kids who grew up with comic books and cartoons. Yet there is something to be said for his affinity with superheroes, particularly when his paintings resemble grunge and graffiti as opposed to portraying them in their usual dignified stance.

In his solo show, “At This Rate, We Are Both Doomed”, the contrast of this grim depiction is highlighted, and while it is not uncommon for people to develop a fascination for superheroes for all the same reasons, the imagery of Arno’s paintings invite us to reframe our perspective. His paintings carry the same aura of a visual diary, almost like an extension of his blog, with no reservations to confess the artists’ anxieties and the world’s compulsion to project ideals upon an a deus ex machina in the absence of a hero, an icon in the absence of what it represents.

Frantz Arno Salvador (b. 1981) at Iligan, Isabela graduated Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Philippine Women’s University in 2002. He first took to blogging under the name Arnoland from 2007 - 2012 while working as an art director for a men’s title magazine, even juggling group shows on the side. He primarily works with mixed media using collage, ink, acrylic, and watercolor.

Nicole Lasquety