JOEY COBCOBO’S EVANGELIOIt only takes a spark to get a fire going.
What started as a spark – a simple question, a trivial feeling of discontent, a small burden – in the mind of artist Joey Cobcobo has become his second solo exhibition. This flicker of light could easily consume and spread out like wildfire yet remained an underlying but significant tension brushed into the creases of the dominantly dark and heavy tone of the artist’s works.
Carefully put together, Cobcobo walks people through a process of transfer, transformation, and choice with Evangelio. This second solo exhibition capitalizes on feelings of contrast as the audience experiences a sense of renewal but recognizes familiarity with each creation.
Household of Faith lies at the core of where the heart should be – in a home surrounded by everything and everyone with love. Passion bleeds from the intent towards this work of oil on canvas. It touches each piece created and speaks from the heart but still finds itself limited by the very corners in which it rests.
Threading the path in Divination is a child that seeks to gain enlightenment that can only be nourished by the divine tree. Yet, with a cloud of doubt, the desire for such knowledge rings the confusingly similar tunes of promised growth and familiar temptations.
The woodcut Evangelio captures the essence of choice to find one’s voice and “speak” in season or out of season; to be resurrected and find the courage to embrace renewal and transformation. Once you’ve experienced it, you spread His love to everyone; you want to pass it on.
Cobcobo’s achievement is not how he mixes his colors or how his lines are drawn on mono bloc wood. His images may be of spirituality and evangelism, however on a higher plane Cobcobo has shown a work can be of multiple levels. This perspective disregards the art of the quick fix that art must be of seamless unity. Cobcobo has created time outside of real time and the viewer could use this in his works. Cobcobo makes us squint with our eyes and look long and hard at each of his woodprints and works on canvas. And the longer you look, the more likely you will unlock his secrets. The longer you look, the more liberating you become.
This is Evangelio. Each tells what is but speaks of something more. It makes you lean forward to listen to something reminiscent of what was heard before but is not quite there. It presents a divergent view on hopefulness by using temperance and control in an otherwise dramatic and intensely spiritual concept. It is a conscious choice.
“…but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
“ …a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
--Esther P. Quiñones and Jay Bautista
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