A Little Bit of Everything

Once in a while, after a succession of visual styles, an effective artist craves for experimentation as a form of
welcome respite. In his second solo exhibition at the Art Cube, A Little Bit of Everything, Angelo Tabije
spontaneously attempts to put together past raw signature fixtures, uncanny lines patterns and painting
elements that had made him a much-sought-after artist of figurative bespoke expressions
For Tabije, art is the lie that tells the eminent truth. Paradoxically, it is not that art does imitates life rather
life imitates art. We learn how to dream, how to exist, how to think about ourselves through these paintings.
Tabije has brought back the storytelling in his inherent visuality.

In A Little Bit of Everything the first thing one discovers is how Tabije does his masterpieces in pairs.
Proving depicted subjects are worth another look he repeats it again even reversing the front and back on
canvas are shown. In A Little Bit About Everything Tabije does his framed parables in doting twos. Done
in intense realism, Casual Threat reminisces as Korean look-alikes in oversize jackets. Posing as hip-hop rap
stalwarts, it is a pin intended at consumerism evident by the canned soft drinks floating, Tabije critiques how we have become enslaved by corporate giants that offer cheap indulgences at the expense of our health.

Tabije is never afraid to be self-critical. Flex shows muscle-bound and burly men lambast vanity in male-
obsessed with chiseling their bodies in swirly perfection. Aside from the swipe on the manly
selfishness, it was also Tabije’s way to show off his skill in rendering often difficult illustrated anatomy.

Blue Green is another visual language that is making a comeback offering anime portraits attached with
fixation with man and machine relationship which is the quintessential Tabije. In complimentary palette
with an obvious Jose Tence Ruiz and John Santos influences, one can almost hear the clunking screws as
it is a cold comment on how technology numbed our sensitivities. Progress does not always come in having
the latest gadgets with the fastest and the brightest machinations to boot. One could almost turn on the
switch for it to maneuver.

Nothing escapes Tabije whether they be light banter or arresting issues. In Royalty, he attempts to stab at
the elite lineage in fearless stance, as it eschews religion for its selfish gains. Presented in seamless
strokes, Mama Mary is in sync with a well-decorated prince in monotone bravura. It even has a vintage
London cab as a headpiece reminds you of a Ghengkis Khan stance while hidden in his bosom are material
laces and power straps as his eminent weakness.

White Pale is a dialogue between identity and innocence. Imbibing persona that one has to put up or
shield for, Tabije unravels psychological hysteria that sometimes the naïve of faces could cause the gravest
damage—not to think unforgettable heartbreaks. Equilibrium suggests the difficulty in emotions as one
deals with life. In women, Tabije finds rather the bipolar argument shifting in women as they try to
survive in dignity and love in oblivion. Notice the circles as background as it represent the cycle of life,
another Tabije essential.

Watcher shows a many layered cowboy riding the horizon. Expect Tabije to exaggerate to prove a thesis on false iconography to the point of over decorate the male machismo. A Little Bit of Everything offers a plethora of visual languages that co-exist--pop with surrealism, realist tensions with biochemical indulged in fantasy happen all at once in these Tabije compositions. Notable of each is these concoctions are Tabije’s alone. Tabije’s prowess is he found new aesthetics in his old creative pursuits. He dwells deeper in each subdued feature as he unlearns as he re-familiarizes given the different context for them. Looks like Tabije enjoyed the unlimited freedom as it attested his capability to imagine to no end. It was obvious he enjoyed the process.