Kristofferson San Pablo
BOMBA 3000
Opens Friday, November 10th (5-8PM)
BOZO Pasadena is pleased to announce an exhibition of work by Los Angeles- based artist, Kristofferson San Pablo, entitled BOMBA 3000. An opening reception will be held on Friday, November 10th, from 5-8PM. The gallery is located at 595 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 311 Pasadena CA 91101.
The title, BOMBA 3000 is an homage to the Filipino film genre of “Bomba”, popularized in the 1960's and 1970's.
"Bomba" films were known for their sexually explicit scenes during a culturally conservative and turbulent period in the Philippines.These movies were popularized while the country faced devastating and tumultuous civil wars on two fronts — a communist-led rebellion by the New People's Army (NPA) coinciding with a Muslim separatist rebellion in the Southern Philippines.
“Bomba” films became a crucial form of escapism for some, while simultaneously stoking an ever-evolving cultural debate pertaining to decency and standards of morality.
The term "Bomba", as Kristofferson San Pablo remembers, was used frequently by his family & the older Filipino generations. Their utterances of: "What is this, Bomba?”, or "Don't look! It's Bomba!" were common, as he watched film and television in childhood. Often, these scenes depicted couples engaging in innocuous, romantic gestures. Much like the aforementioned flippant usage and designation of all intimacy as “Bomba” — San Pablo challenges the viewer to re-contextualize ones personal boundaries.
The exhibition features two, distinct categories of imagery — Those in reference to popular culture and "viral” moments & those in reference to casual scenes with his wife and friends, often in different states of undress. Although seemingly separate, these pieces are indelibly linked due to the voyeuristic romanticism San Pablo infuses in all his works - affectionately dubbed bringing the "URL" (images from online sources) to the "IRL" (images into real life).
Through the presentation of his “living” installation, “ATLAS 3000” — San Pablo derives inspiration from Gerhard Richter’s expansive walls of archival source material, also entitled “Atlas". By activating the space as a living studio, functioning much like his “IRL” body of work — the viewer is given yet another avenue to observe the precision and dedication to intimacy that San Pablo infuses into every aspect of his multifaceted practice.
BOMBA 3000 as an exhibition hints at a possible future of sexual liberation. Through his technical proficiency as a draftsman, San Pablo becomes an archivist with reverent, historical authority. While culture is consistently digitized into “bytes” and “data” that cycle in rapid succession — Kristofferson San Pablo aims to be the antithesis. His works tether and aim to amalgamate the incoherent happenings of our reality, into new histories of painting.
Open hours for BOMBA 3000 will be Wednesday - Friday, 12pm to 5pm. Frequently, Kristofferson San Pablo will be present in the space as a living exhibition. BOMBA 3000 is on view until December 22nd.
Kristofferson San Pablo, "The Highest in the Room", 2023. Colored pencil on paper. 11 x 11 inches. (Framed: 13.5 x 13.5 inches)
Kristofferson San Pablo, "Syd & Vino At Home (Chinatown)", 2023. Colored pencil on paper. 24 x 18 inches. (Framed: 27.25 x 20.5 inches)
Kristofferson San Pablo, "Light Through An Open Door (study)", 2023. Colored pencil on paper. 11 x 9 inches. (Framed: 13.5 x 11 inches)
Kristofferson San Pablo, "Bebot Drawing at Home", 2023. Colored pencil on paper. 11 x 9 inches. (Framed: 13.5 x 11 inches)
Kristofferson San Pablo, "There is a Light that Never Goes Out (Scully's Smoke Break)", 2023. Oil on canvas. 30 × 30 inches.
Kristofferson San Pablo, "A Kiki in Chinatown", 2023. Oil on canvas. 48 × 36 inches.
