RONALD VENTURA AND MANUEL OCAMPO ENGAGE IN ‘DIALOGO'

On paper, the two styles shouldn’t really mesh.

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One artist is precise, defined; the other is a mad splatterer. But lining the walls of Cloud Grey, you can barely tell where one artist ends and the other begins. Ventura's structured collages are dashed with diabolical chili sauce from Ocampo’s brush, and vice versa.

It’s safe to say neither artist knew what to expect. “What will really emerge as a work?” Ventura asked himself. “If you go too deep, you might drown in research. Sometimes in art what is needed is memory, reaction, impact — that ‘third vision’ that is the combined worldview of both of us. That’s where the dialogue comes out.”

Says Ocampo: “I was also curious because his approach is different, my approach is different. Mine is less refined, his sketchbooks are like a Renaissance master.” And the results? “The collaboration works. It’s beautiful.” That’s when Ocampo compares it to a certain Filipino breakfast porridge the color of dried blood. “You wouldn’t think it would match, but it’s perfect.”

To further the “cooking” analogy, Ventura would be Mr. White to Ocampo’s impulsive Jesse Pinkman. And the results have an unexpected purity — like that chili sauce needed to be there all along.