The gallery bathroom (2023)
Bea Batungbacal
Acrylic and pen on linen
33x41cms
December 31, 2023
When I think of magic, I think of this art gallery called Rosenblut & Friendmann in Madrid, Spain.
In January 2023, I was drawn in by the paintings on display and the woman at its forefront, almost in a serendipitous way.
I told my friend about the gallery and the art and the woman, and he said that I should try going back, maybe there’s something for me there. I considered it- then immediately dismissed it, thinking there’s absolutely no way.
But even after a few days, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I took it as a sign when randomly, one of my coworkers gave me some unsolicited (but much-appreciated) advice: “Opportunities come when you start knocking on doors.”
Before anything else, I went home, stared at the corridor entrance to my apartment, and started on a painting:
Corridor of doors (2023)
Bea Batungbacal
Acrylic on canvas
24x30cms
A few days later, I returned to the gallery and I knocked.
Knock,
knock,
knock!
And the door opened.
It was my entry into the art world- a place that I was always curious about but never thought was actually real. Like Hogwarts or Narnia. I loved every single thing about it. I couldn’t explain it, but I just felt like it was where I belonged. Like all of life led me to there.
Everyday after my teaching job, I would be at the gallery. Yael, the owner, became like a mentor to me. I met real life artists and learned about the various styles and techniques, color, dimension, layering, perspective. I experienced exhibitions, openings, installations, ingress and egress, how to operate in the art world. I had access to a library of art books, was surrounded by all kinds of artwork, in a city of endless museums, galleries, graffitis. Art was everywhere- and I was soaking it all in.
The gallery later on became my golden ticket to be able to stay in Madrid (though we now know that life obviously had other plans). Nevertheless, it quite literally changed my life. It was new and exciting, but it was also my home and safe space. At one point, I literally brought in a mattress for my friends and I to take naps in as I would prepare for my first exhibit there.
And one day, I decided to paint its bathroom. I'd sit and pee on that toilet every single day and in my direct view, right inside the shower, was a bicycle. And then I’d sit a little longer because I needed more time to wonder why the f*ck there was a bicycle in the bathroom.
When I asked Yael about it, she said that hey maybe it just belonged there. I stopped asking questions after that.
Random pahabol fun fact is that I hid the words “PERIGON“ on the bike, which is the spinning studio in Manila that my best friend Andie works at. I’m happy to report that when I'm around her I also feel less like an alien and much like I still belong somewhere.
