Luis Santos dissects the seeming necessity to find meaning in art in his first major solo exhibition with Manila Contemporary entitled Exposition. Taking clichés forward has plagued artists at each beginning of the creative process. In dire need of relevance, works are embellished with overused images that are justified to define a supposedly original sentiment. The brilliance of the artist is then seen in the ability of to express ideas in a manner that is solely one’s own. It is digging through layers upon layers of metaphors and articulating the object in accordance to one’s distinct perspective.

Named after the literary device and in tribute to the thing in itself, the exhibition attempts to push the idea of objective narration to another level. Pairing the overused model of a skull with his compulsion to perfect, Santos transforms the upstairs gallery into a laboratory full of photorealistic specimens. Meticulously calculating every brush stroke, he reproduces every curve and indentation of these scientifically accurate images against monochrome backgrounds. He goes to the extreme of literally presenting reality as is, void of any distractions or adornments. Straightforward and direct, Santos refreshingly presents no need to impart strong messages about the world at large. Instead, in his quiet and non-intrusive manner, he invites us to return to the simple and obvious, and yet the typically forgotten.