Gary-Ross Pastrana’s practice has been one of the most persistent in terms of investigating the real relationship between ideas and objects. His conceptual pieces, although loaded with poetic intensity, remain unobtrusively subtle and even almost quaint in their appearance. Coiled photographs, woven tales from found pictures in the internet, sawed off parts of a boat shipped to another country, his shirt tied into a pole to commensurate a flag, these are the slightest of turns Gary-Ross has his objects make to create a new text within.
Born in 1977 in Manila, he received his Bachelors degree in Painting from the University of the Philippines where he was awarded the Dominador Castaneda Award for Best Thesis. He has gained considerable experience and exposure within the region, with residency programs in Bandung, Kyoto and Bangkok and most recently at the Center for Contemporary Art, Singapore. Pastrana is a recipient of the CCP Thirteen Artists Award in 2006. He has shown at the Singapore Art Museum, Metropolitan Museum of the Philippines, the Jorge B. Vargas Museum and was part of the 2012 New Museum Triennale and 2008 Busan Biennale. In 2004, he co-founded Future Prospects art space and has since continually organized exhibitions in Manila and abroad.