Maria Taniguchi’s “Body of Work” Debuts at MCAD Manila
Maria Taniguchi’s “Body of Work” Debuts at MCAD Manila
17 December 2024
The Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde has unveiled an extraordinary exhibit, Maria Taniguchi: Body of Work. Running from December 14, 2024, to March 30, 2025, this marks the first survey exhibition of the globally celebrated artist in Asia.
Taniguchi’s art is anchored in her renowned “brick paintings,” an ongoing series that began in 2008 and has since grown to encompass over 200 canvases. These quasi-abstract works, characterized by intricate grids of hand-painted bricks in monochrome palettes, are central to her artistic practice. The exhibit brings together the most extensive collection of her brick paintings to date, alongside sculptural commissions, video works, and objects spanning her career.
As curator and MCAD Director Joselina Cruz aptly describes, this exhibition arrives at a moment ripe for reflection. More than just a presentation of individual pieces, Maria Taniguchi: Body of Work becomes an invitation to contemplate the breadth and depth of her practice, built upon years of disciplined artistry and a profound engagement with time, labor, and materiality.
The “brick paintings,” in their deliberate repetition and meticulous construction, transcend their physical forms. Each canvas contains millions of painted bricks, their scale and precision simultaneously expansive and intimate, challenging viewers to reconsider how they perceive effort, imperfection, and the passage of time.
This survey show goes beyond Taniguchi’s iconic paintings to include her other media, where conceptual frameworks of materiality and form come into play. The exhibit showcases Runaways, a series of minimalist sculptures shaped from duhat wood, whose organic essence contrasts with the industrial rigidity often associated with modernism.
Video works such as Untitled (Celestial Motors) and Mies 421 capture the artist’s nuanced study of space, texture, and context. In Mies 421, for instance, Taniguchi’s lens lingers on the iconic Barcelona Pavilion, transforming the modernist landmark into a meditative exploration of time and architectural rhythm.
For the first time, visitors can also experience Untitled (2024), a revelatory brick painting where Taniguchi strips back layers of the grid to expose the underlying process, revealing her meticulous preparation and the labor-intensive techniques behind each brick. This transparency offers a rare glimpse into the artist’s methods, underscoring her relentless interrogation of surface, structure, and the boundaries between form and meaning.
Other highlights include Deautomated Solids (2016), a sculptural installation of heavy silver forms that evoke discarded coins, and Studio Visit (2012), a poignant series of laser-etched plywood panels taken from the artist’s notebooks. Both works embody the tension between permanence and ephemerality, reminding viewers of the fragility and persistence inherent in creative processes.
The ubiquity of materials in Taniguchi’s work also finds resonance in her poster stacks, such as A Place Among Other Places (2009) and Untitled (2015). These layered, visually striking prints incorporate natural and industrial imagery, bridging themes of history, memory, and imagination.
Maria Taniguchi’s practice, as exemplified in this exhibition, is as much about what is seen as what lies beneath. Her works, deeply rooted in the physicality of their making, encourage contemplation and introspection. They invite viewers to slow down, observe, and reflect, offering a rare opportunity to engage with art that defies easy categorization yet remains profoundly human in its intent.
MCAD Manila is located on the ground floor of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s Design + Arts Campus along Dominga Street in Malate, Manila. Admission to Maria Taniguchi: Body of Work is free, with the exhibit running until March 30, 2025. In observance of the holiday season, the museum will close from December 21, 2024, to January 2, 2025. For more details, visit mcadmanila.org.ph or follow MCAD Manila on Facebook and Instagram.
