Andres Barrioquinto probes deep into the darker confines of human emotion and defines the grim little secrets that lie buried beneath a simple, naïve smile. It’s definitely the first time in his history as a painter that Barrioquinto depicts portraitures in gentle smirks and grins. And ironically, being once dubbed by art critics as the new darkman of Philippine art, this is also an initial instance that the artist drowns his portrayed figures with an overflow of flowers and mixed patterns. “Squalor of the Mind” is a visual commentary on people thriving beneath an overflowing torrent of beautiful things. Flowers can be seen anywhere, as it almost devours the whole of a painting. Beside the figures lies either a massive flock of butterflies or origami paper cranes—everything else is in a multihued state of beauty, except the facial portraits itself. The faces express a certain dark mystery, as if keeping something unknown from the perspective of its viewers. From this semi- black hole state of the “unknown”, the artist painfully drives the horror inside the spectator’s unconscious.
