Allan Balisi

Allan Balisi is a Filipino contemporary artist working through various mediums. He paints fixated on the frozen frame, the photographic still image. Although Allan isn’t a photorealist artist, he acts as an image filter, amplifying the graphic qualities and colouration of still moments. Like a flash bulb, he dilutes all colour from a photo with an overwhelming whiteness, producing paintings with severely muted colouration, almost monochromes, punctuated at times by stark blacks.

Like many artists, he collects items that become the resource for this imagery – screen grabbing from movies, catching figures in mid-action, and filing captures into an actual image bank. Something to sort through, pour over, and edit for the right moment in order to replicate and alter.

Film itself and similar photographic finds play an important role in the process. With existing narratives and image constructions within movies, the film still gives Allan material with which to decontextualize or recontextualize into compositions that resonate with him. As paintings, they are face-to-face with viewers. Each one represents a potential effect and narrative, something Allan admittedly tries to orchestrate.