To Unmask an Enigma

Jon Jaylo's recent appearance in the scene however, is more of a psychological labyrinth than a display of paintings. With each image is a part of a special key that leads to an unknown door of illusions, a place where dreams are real, a place where shrouds and masks dance freely like thoughts inside the mind...a place we call enigma. It's a cerebral act in where the guests are meant to interpret and decode a series of puzzles that eventually leads to an understanding of the artist's innerthinking's and the intricately designed clockwork of dreaming. Each of the pieces are designed to leave out a clue, perhaps breaking down Jaylo's subconscious into small fragments of visual progression, whispering a certain echo of the artist's soul to its viewers. However, the soft sound it breathes is very vague and sometimes deceiving, as a single idea could take on a multitude of forms, like a shapeless virus infecting an already concrete concept, giving out an infinity of questions to the single answer that it brings. This is very intentional according to the artist, because he wants his audience to think. He wants them to break free outside of their own private boxes and engage themselves deeper inside the disintegrating abyss contained inside his works. He wants the paintings to cause a certain condition of unconscious euphoria, taking its viewers afloat from the grounds of logic and reality. Because only in this heightened sense of apprehension can one understand the true nature of his works. It's more of a challenge to his visual spectators, forcing them to take effort in acquiring the answers rather than the usual process of spoon feeding the bits and pieces. Because the true reward of accomplished knowledge rests on the struggle that we have undergone in order to achieve it. And because the artist is very elusive in nature, this exhibition might actually be the only way to absolutely find out how the inner workings of his mind actually run. Jaylo's mirage of riddles are composed of things borrowed from his own memories and dreams--love, inner conflict, religion, death and life are but a few to name. Everything is under the mercy of equilibrium, a rather perfected balance between darkness and light; chaos and harmony. Everything, if viewed as the artist would want it should make sense at the right time and lead to an answer that infinitely leads to a lot more, like two framed mirrors facing each other.

But is this exhibition really enough to unlock the enigma of Jon Jaylo?