Ronald Ventura's 'Kalupaan': An Appetite for Reconstruction

The earth groans beneath the weight of steel and ambition as we regard this storehouse of images: Jacob wrestling with an angel; a dance of dragons and ballerinas; a boy holding the tailbone of a dinosaur; a haloed construction worker; a space shuttle jutting out from a woman's body; a constant excavation.

- IGAN D'BAYAN

In "Kalupaan" (Earthen), Ronald Ventura drags us—kicking, screaming, mesmerized—into a world where progress is both a spectacle and a dirge. His paintings are characterized by construction sites, the ghosts of forests and fields smothered beneath concrete, with their echoes replaced by the relentless hum of machinery. Here, the past isn't just buried; it is obliterated, bulldozed into irrelevance. Ventura, ever the alchemist of chaos, blends hyperrealism with the grotesque, juxtaposing childhood innocence with industrial brutality, mythology with capitalist carnage. In doing so, he confronts the viewer with a crucial question: what is the true cost of transformation?

Ventura's "Kalupaan" is the inaugural solo exhibition at Cloudgrey Gallery, an art space in the heart of Bonifacio Global City, seamlessly blending contemporary art, design and culture. Nestled within the Grand Hyatt Manila Residences, the gallery is part of a unique trio alongside the Kenneth Cobonpue showroom and Fable Café + Lounge, creating an immersive experience where art and lifestyle intersect.