Art Exhibition: May 7-28, 2022
Artist: Jay Cabalu
Curator: Paul Wong

Opening Reception
May 7, 2-5pm

Artist & Curator Talk
May 14, 2-3pm
Limited 30, RSVP on Eventbrite

On Main Gallery
#427 – 268 Keefer St.
Vancouver, BC
Open: Tues-Sat, 12-5pm

Extra is the debut solo exhibition of queer Filipino-Canadian artist, Jay Cabalu. In this exhibition Cabalu examines the many ways popular culture and media exploits and perpetuates the consumption of images. His obsessively detailed photo mashups depict images of celebrities, capitalism, political extremism and find a commonality in their excessive pursuits.

Appropriating both materials and concepts, Jay pushes the limits of photo collage in a diverse range of styles. From explosive portraits of cultural icons to historic events, this exhibition reveals the human desire to have and be more, as both empowering and destructive. Humanity is depleting the Earth’s resources, while collectively reaching a boiling point with social and political anxieties. Extra is a critique of “way too much” in an environment of increasing scarcity.

These 8 new works were created in pandemic isolation. In this exhibition, Cabalu has chosen to depict 5 “heads of state”: Queen Elizabeth II, Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears, Rihanna and former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos. The other works are titled Storming the Capitol, Flaming Chandelier and Bouquet. These large-format hand cut paper collages are adhered directly on wood panels.

Artist Bio & Website: jaycabalu.com

With a focus as a Pop artist, Cabalu’s work repurposes magazines and comic books. His collages are a portal into a vibrant, complex world made from manufactured images. Through his highly meticulous collages, Jay creates his own metaverse. He discovered popular culture print media at a young age after his family immigrated to Canada in 1991.

Cabalu has been exhibiting since he graduated in 2013 with a BFA from Kwantlen Polytechnic University. His first international show in 2018 was with the Foundation for Asian-American Independent Media in Chicago and part of exhibitions with the UK-based Queer Asia in 2018 and 2019 in which Jay gave a virtual artist talk at the British Museum. In 2020 his first collaborative exhibition focused on queer-Asian identity at the SUM Gallery as part of Yellow Peril; The Celestial Elements. His self-portrait De Los Reyes, appears on the cover of the McGill-Queens University Press publication Canadian Culinary Imaginations, which explores the role of food as multimodal media.

On Main Gallery has previously shown Cabalu’s work as part of the Pride in Chinatown 2020 storefront installations. Jay created his first site-specific and digital work “Fortune Diptych” for the windows of Fortune Sound Club.