Gil Batle's Porcelain Plates Merge Prison Memories with Filipino Flora
Self-taught artist Gil Batle, who spent 25 years incarcerated in California prisons, presents 'Double Life' at Ricco/Maresca gallery in New York. The exhibition features acrylic paintings on white porcelain plates, blending Filipino island imagery with symbols of incarceration like bird cages, chains, barbs, and shivs. Batle, now living in his parents' native Philippines, uses the fragile ceramic medium to contrast domestic civility with brutality. Works include 'Barbirusa' (2025), 'Bird Catcher' (2026), 'Tethered' (2024), 'The Butcher' (2025), 'Tattooed Pig' (2025), and 'Rice Field Rocker' (2024). The show runs through August 21 at Ricco/Maresca, a gallery specializing in outsider and self-taught art.
Key facts
- Gil Batle is a self-taught artist who was incarcerated for 25 years in California prisons.
- He honed his skills drawing and tattooing while incarcerated.
- Batle now lives in the Philippines, his parents' native country.
- The exhibition 'Double Life' features acrylic paintings on white porcelain plates.
- Common motifs include bird cages, chains, barbs, and shivs.
- The porcelain medium symbolizes precarity and traditional civility.
- Works include 'Barbirusa' (2025), 'Bird Catcher' (2026), 'Tethered' (2024), 'The Butcher' (2025), 'Tattooed Pig' (2025), and 'Rice Field Rocker' (2024).
- The exhibition is on view through August 21 at Ricco/Maresca in New York.
Entities
Artists
- Gil Batle
Institutions
- Ricco/Maresca
Locations
- New York
- United States
- Philippines
- California