The mechanism and fuel that is Joe Geraldo encompasses the massive production of terracotta sculptures, drawings and paintings as well as the widened functional sphere of artists as contributors of insight to history. Geraldo will open his solo exhibition titled New World Order in Orange Project, Art District, Bacolod on June 24, 2022. The exhibit presents the segmented visual narratives surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic as it enveloped Geraldo’s community; “Artists have to tell the story of their time,” he says in summary. Geraldo’s exhibit ridicules and challenges to confront the fluctuating imbalance of power which made an already dark time even darker. It invites us to look back and forth between man-as-a-body, prone to sickness and pain, and man-as-the-systems-of-humanity, inclined to sicken and inflict pain. Geraldo does not hesitate to assemble his brutally honest take on the seemingly moral man. He transfers his skepticism towards people in power straight on canvas, on paper, or a slab of clay, and slots them into the blind spots of socio-political structures. One may liken Geraldo’s visual stories to the dark, ironic and somewhat humorous criticality of Danish social critic Kierkegaard towards the ethical man- faithful yet forsaken. His images show a grim and dangerously laughable revelation of a broken system that is, underneath, unsolvable and deadening. Joe Geraldo was a Fine Arts student of La Consolacion College-Bacolod and has gathered several national awards and residency grants through the years. He remains to be an important presence in the Visayan art scene; constantly sharing his methods and knowledge to young artists of the region. The Putik Group member is also active in participating with art-related community outreach programs of the island of Negros. Geraldo was featured in the 2020 Philippine Art Fair (The Link, Makati City) and recently opened his “Doubting Years” exhibition in Art Cube Philippines (Cebu, 2022). Words by Guenivere Decena