Art Verité Gallery

“Puno’t Dulo” is a product of Kendall’s realizations of today’s harsh reality. At the same time, the artwork also shows the artist’s dream. “Puno” in this sense refers to the beginning, but Kendall used this to mean, “tree,” which symbolizes the environment. “Dulo” would refer to the end or the future, and can be correlated with our generation’s concept of modernization. Tree, the Earth’s first phase,  symbolizes the beginning of life while modernization in the face of urbanization, a problematic societal issue that roots in people’s misconception of what progress looks like, is perhaps the expected final phase or future.

Kendall Colindon (b.1995) is an artist based in Las Piñas City. He’s a Fine Arts graduate from the Technological University of the Philippines and is currently a member of a collective group named Room111. Kendall focuses on social realism and uses his creativity as a call for radical awareness to push progressive actions. Since art nowadays is more than just its aesthetic value, his main piece “Pinagpala” was created to tell the reality of this society where environmental degradation becomes a norm in the quest for industrial development. According to him, his generation’s point of view about advancement is debatable. He believes that sincere economic growth doesn’t mean compromising our natural habitat.

Aside from its dark connotation, the artist wants to give something more. The subject of his artworks was usually inspired by the beauty of sceneries, Kendall captures photographs of his surroundings and puts them together to create another piece.  At this point, he portrays his works from a different angle and captures where his dreams for the future would lie. His works display hope. “Puno’t Dulo,” the main concept of his first solo exhibit, reveals his thoughts about real progress. He believes that environmentalism and modernization are inseparable and will only work efficiently if people, especially those in the government, will realize that those healthy surroundings will actually pave the way toward a fruitful transformation.

Kendall is a mentee of Linangan Art Residency in 2021, where he explores his latest works on the combination of colored figures and monochrome background which he finds striking and moving. This is where his influence starts and sparks meaningful discussions.

-Rhiza Uson