CUT OUT ATMA

Mac Valdezco

Cut Out Atma

April 1 – 25, 2009

20Square, Silverlens Gallery

SLab is proud to present Cut Out Atma, new work by Mac Valdezco, opening at 20SQUARE gallery at 4pm on April 1, Wednesday. Valdezco’s show of wall-bound sculptural pieces of solidified cotton tape and aluminum screws continues the artist’s exploration of the representation of living forms.

Cut Out Atma is the product of the artist’s fantasy. Two pieces, in shades of terra cotta and turquoise mimic cross sections of tree trunks. The process of laying down her synthetically solidified cotton tape in concentric rings as metaphor of scarring, aging, and growth. A third piece, a white bubbly wall of circles in different sizes on a black canvas – bubbles on ascent from the deep black or the relationship between oil and water? Valdezco’s Cut Out Atma is rich in dialogue between material and metaphor, marking the transition from static object to living form.

Mac Valdezco (b. 1976) graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from the Technological University of the Philippines in 1997. She has exhibited in the National Museum, Vargas Museum, Ateneo Art Gallery, Avellana Gallery, Blanc Art Space, Boston Gallery, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines, among others. Valdezco was given the Cultural Center of the Philippines’s 13 Artists Award in 2006 and has been shortlsted for the Ateneo Art Awards three times.

Cut Out Atma by Mac Valdezco runs from April 1 to 25, 2009 at 20Square Gallery. Accompanying the show is between the sea and the sky by Christina Dy at the SLab Main Gallery.

Visit 20Square at 2/F YMC Bldg.II, 2320 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati City. Gallery hours are from 10am - 7pm Monday to Friday, and 1 - 6pm on Saturday. For more information, call 8160044 / 09052650873, email manage@silverlensphoto.com or visit slab.silverlensphoto.com.

Image:

Mac Valdezco

Under the Tree (detail), 2009

THE SHOCK OF THE FAMILIAR

The Shock of the Familiar
3 Person Exhibit by: Bong Bellosillo, Mitch Garcia and Ian Madrigal

Opens Tuesday March 31, Exhibit runs until April 13, 2009
@ Galerie Astra 2/f LRI Design Plaza
210 Nicanor Garcia St., Bel-Air II, Makati City


History had ended or "vanished" with the spread of globalization this end should not be understood as the culmination of history's progress, but as the collapse of the very idea of historical progress. The end was not caused by one ideology's victory over the other, but the disappearance of the utopian visions that both the political Right and Left shared. Giving further evidence of his opposition toward Marxist visions of global communism and liberal visions of global civil society the ends they hoped for had always been illusions.

“The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth ...it is the truth which conceals that there is none. The simulacrum is true.”

“The transition from signs which dissimulate something to signs which dissimulate that there is nothing, marks the decisive turning point. The first implies a theology of truth and secrecy (to which the notion of ideology still belongs). The second inaugurates an age of simulacra and simulation, in which there is no longer any God to recognize his own, nor any last judgment to separate truth from false, the real from its artificial resurrection, since everything is already dead and risen in advance.”
–Jean luc Baudrillard
Simulacra and Simulation


Form, design, and function: making a social or political statement through artistic presentation. Art and social issues have always gone hand-in-hand, from Egyptian hieroglyphics to the Bauhaus to graffiti. The ocular and emotional impact made by Picasso's Guernica forces one to think about the horrors of war. Munch's The Scream, depicting despair and anxiety in 19thcentury Germany, is today a commercial icon used to sell sports drinks. In the latter half of the 20th century, the extreme revival of poster art branched into record album covers, and the debate over whether popular art is really art, once again posed the questions: what is art, and what is its purpose?es art have, and should it have, a message? Perhaps one of its functions is to identify groups, group membership, and political or social attitudes shared by the group.

Membership of subculture groups, whose ideas and lifestyles are at variance with those of the dominant culture, is usually dominated by the young. For some it is fleeting and forms a rite of passage; others move through a series of subcultures, and some remain committed to one, long term. Belonging to a subculture can be liberating, offering, for example, certain freedoms in lifestyle, sexuality, and politics. By defining their own geographical, social, and sartorial boundaries, subcultures also provide a sense of belonging that is independent of the family. Subcultures express themselves through their own art, music, and dress. The subcultures of the latter half of the 20th century would most likely identify themselves as being outside of any norm.

The development of a modern society in which authentic social life has been replaced with its representation: "All that was once directly lived has become mere representation the history of social life can be understood as "the decline of being into having, and having into merely appearing. Spectacle defines the system that is a confluence of advanced capitalism, the mass media, and the types of governments who favor those phenomena. The spectacle is not a collection of images; rather, it is a social relationship between people that is mediated by images.

-Ian Madrigal


Reference: Publications -Jean luc Baudrillard; The Illusion of the End (1995), Simulacra and Simulation (1994), Guy Debord; Society of Spectacle(2005), Bill Graham Presents: The Art of the Fillmore 1966-1971 (1999)(EMP), Amy de la Haye & Cathie Dingwall, Surfers, Soulies, Skniheads & Skaters: Subculture Styles From the Forties to the Nineties (1999)(EMP), Ted Polhemus, Street Style (1994), James Stark, PUNK ‘77 (1999) (EMP), Michael Walsh, Graffiti (1996)(EMP), Billy Vera, Peter Blecha, Jim Fricke, Adam Woog, Eric Weisbard, Michael Gonzales, EMP-Crossroads (2000)(EMP). Internet – wikipedia en.wikipedia. org, www.emplive. org, Experience Music Project’s interactive Website, where the museum’s Digital Collection is available as a resource for further exploration and research. http://www.wwar. com/ World Wide Arts Resources, www.artlex.com A lexicon of art terms and definitions.

REFLECTIONS OF A DISCARDED SCREW

Alex Aguilar

Reflections of a discarded screw

1 April - 7 May 2009

In Alex Aguilar's latest painting exhibit Reflections of A Discarded Screw opening at Mag:net on April 1, the seeming disparate but not wholly unrelated elements are combined resulting in euphemistic pokes at metaphors that usually bespeak of the time-tested sentiments on mortality, faith and human existence.

In one painting titled, Flamdeenco, where a pile of donuts is intruded by a blue paint brush whose bristles are dipped in scarlet paint, an obvious innuendo may be forthcoming in such juxtaposition, but the titling makes such an association smirkily broken down and takes the very coded invented word as a ludicrous masking to someone who isn't in on the joke.

On another painting, titled Tears Shed For A Dead Sparrow, the evoked sense of tragic sentimentality is bluntly presented as a likely equation of black splatters and dead bird. The clichorn through by the double voids of the flat black of the splatters and the whirly white gray of the field where the dead bird floats in its blessed indifference.

The fact that the themes one may paint may veer on the hackneyed aphorisms that prescribe ways to look at one's existence with more insight and caution, the redundancy becomes a cycle of learning and unlearning these supposed insights. It is a screw that loosens and tightens in every tumble and tussle with life. This may perhaps necessitate the production of clichas to hammer in these things when the monkey wrench lets these screws and nuts come undone.

Reflections of A Discarded Screw will have its opening cocktails on the 1st of April at 6PM.

The exhibit will be on view until May 4, 2009.

Mag:net Gallery Ayala is at the ground floor of The Columns Tower 1, at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Buendia. For details or inquiries, contact the gallery at 929-31-91 or email info@magnetgalleries.com or visit www.magnetgalleries.com

THE CIRCUS SHOW

In The Circus Show by Raymond Legaspi, one will find some of the main players of Philippine pop culture: politicians, fashionistas, and party animals. The exhibit started as a reaction to a televised hearing at the Senate on government scandals, as well as the prevalence of "fashionistas" in media. "It was an annoying media circus. I thought that these people were clowns," says Legaspi, a former creative director who turned his back on 20 years of advertising to become a full-time painter.

And so he began painting clowns. But unlike traditional harlequins who are always portrayed as jesters, Legaspi paints them offstage: sipping coffee, choosing costumes, or having a glass of wine. "These are regular images for many people, but quite extraordinary and unexpected for clowns," shares Legaspi.

The 20 works on exhibit suggest that clowns are people, too.

Legaspi, a 2008 Philippine Art Awards Juror's Choice awardee, has been mounting annual exhibits at the ArtistSpace since 2007, beginning with the well-acclaimed Daster series, which depicted enormous women wearing the traditional housedress in pastoral repose, sometimes carrying anahaw fans. This was followed in 2008 with Raymond Legaspi Does The Tango, inspired by the popular fiesta dances in the 1970s in the Philippine province of Negros Occidental.

In The Circus Show by Raymond Legaspi, the artist takes a respite from his usual inspiration—the genteel life in the province—and tackles subject matters that are more serious, including negative traits such as passing the blame, womanizing, abuse of power and superficiality.

It is a new take on social realism, with Legaspi's highly visual rendering and unabashed use of colors presenting a clownish and comical—though never cartoonish—observation.

Legaspi, who has always said that he makes art that puts a smile on people's faces, succeeds in impressing the viewer with his visual wit. He pokes fun at Manila's overdressed fashionistas as he employs bold colors and clashing patterns in the costumes of the clowns. As he has done in his previous exhibits, he uses his subjects' clothes as a secondary canvas to show another design or story.

In The Circus Show by Raymond Legaspi, he uses a slew of comic and theatric devices—such as feather boas, hair-dos that look like topiaries, and clothes that are garish, loud, and almost blinding. Yet he finds something fragile and vulnerable beneath all that kitsch, and he lets that come through. "I liked the idea of clowns as people who have to do things because it's their job, even if they don’t like it. These people also have emotions, attitudes, and families. They live normal lives outside their jobs. They are still very human."

There is a clown in all of us, he believes; the clown that takes on a role and performs for other people. "I wanted the viewer to see themselves or people they know in the painting," says Legaspi, who will also be exhibiting in June at La Salle Bacolod and in August at the Momentous Arts Gallery in Singapore.

The Circus Show runs until 7 April 2009.

Established in 2004 and formerly known as MuseumSpace, ArtistSpace is a commercial-run gallery owned by the Ayala Museum. ArtistSpace dedicates itself to the promotion of Philippine contemporary art and talent. By featuring a wide range of styles and media and a different artist every two weeks, ArtistSpace aims to cultivate curiosity about new art and encourage viewership by young professionals, students, and other adults.

The ArtistSpace is located at the 2/F Glass Wing of the Ayala Museum, and is accessible via the 2/F pedestrian walkway. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends.

Admission to ArtistSpace is free.

For more information on ArtistSpace, please call 757-7117 to 21 local 33 or e-mail artistspace@ayalamuseum.org.

MARCH AT PINTO ART GALLERY

PINTO ART GALLERY
29 March – 29 April 2009

Simultaneous art exhibitions at Pinto Art Gallery this March The Silangan Foundation for the Arts, Culture and Ecology presents simultaneous art exhibitions to be unveiled at Pinto Art Gallery. Opens on March 29 at 3pm and runs until April 29, 2009.

Group shows by Leeroy New, Tatong Torres, and Costantino Zicarelli, two one-man shows by Kirby Roxas and Cris Villanueva Jr., and March Show is a first part series of group exhibits of Philippine contemporary artists at Pinto’s Silangan Studio Gallery.

Pinto’s Main Gallery features Leeroy New, Tatong Torres, and Costantino Zicarelli’s recent works.

Pinto’s Upper Gallery unveils Kirby Roxas’ one-man show entitled “settled itinerant”.

On view at Pinto’s Gallery Shop is Cris Villanueva’s one-man exhibition entitled “inordinately ordinary”.

Group exhibition at Silangan Studio Gallery March Show at the Silangan Studio Gallery is a group show of recent works by Leo Abaya, John Paul Antido, Ej Cabangon, Marika Constantino, Ninel Constantino, Marina Cruz, Dansoy Coquilla, Don Dalmacio, Thomas Daquioag, Mael de Guzman, Reynold dela Cruz, Norman Dreo, Reymar Gacutan, Manny Garibay, Dennis Gonzales, Philipp Ines, Erwin Leano, Tony Leano, Stephanie Lopez, Ferdie Montemayor, Reynald ‘Bon’ Mujeres, Andy Orencio, Jim Orencio, Vicente Pado Jr., Anthony Palomo, Mikel Parial, Sam Penaso, Elmer Roslin, Carlo Saavedra, Konn Salao, Jerson Samson, Arturo Sanchez Jr., Victor Santos, Frederick Sausa, Tammy Tan, and Rodel Tapaya.

Pinto Art Gallery is a member of the Silangan Foundation for the Arts, Culture and Ecology. It is located at #1 Sierra Madre St. Grandheights, Antipolo, Rizal. For inquiries you may email us at silangangardens@yahoo.com or call us at (632) 6971015.

DIOSDADO M. LOZENZO: ART REBEL TO LEGEND

URBAN DAP-AYAN

Hay itanum mo, ya hidiyeh aniyom.

What you have planted is what you will reap.

-Ifugao Proverb

Dap-ay is a communal sharing of ideas practiced in the Cordilleras. It is usually held in a dap-ayan, a circular place of gathering made up of stones.

Urban Dap-ayan is an exhibition where people can experience the spirit of dap-ay in an urban setting. It is a place where people gather and share stories through music, photographs, video, spoken word and sign language. True to the spirit of dap-ay, a disability should never be deemed a hindrance in sharing one’s story with other people. Stories are meant to be shared with people; they are open and accessible to everyone. Their stories are as important as another’s story.

Urban Dap-ayan is a place where both deaf and hearing people can commune and appreciate each other’s stories. Everyone is invited to come and experience a night of sharing stories in Urban Dap-ay. No language barrier. No cultural barrier.

Just bring your own story.

URBAN DAP-AYAN: Stories for everyone - An interactive exhibit by Vonnaire Menchate - March 28, 2009 - 7PM - Baypark, Malate, Manila

SARMÍNG: A TWOMAN EXHIBIT

SARMÍNG: A Twoman Exhibit
The Art of Ynna Abuan & Vivian Limpin

Opening on 27 March 2009, 7:00 PM, TaUmbayan Restaurant
40 T. Gener cor. K-1 Streets (near Kamuning Road), Quezon City
Exhibit lasts until 30 April 2009


Sarmíng is the Ilocano word for salamin, or “mirror.” But it could also very well be a portmanteau for “sarisaring tingin” (albeit with an absent “m”).

Various views, varied visions. These two women without formal training and any pretensions in the visual arts paint their stories in contrasting styles. Ynna Abuan’s canvas (or scrap plywood from time to time) is often a playground of playful colors that find restraint in the fantastic figures of women and intricate patterns. On the other hand, gazing into Vivian Limpin’s serene hues is like looking into the horizon – one gets the feeling of witnessing infinity, only that the physical medium hides the rest from your eyes.

Sarmíng is the first time that Abuan’s works are going to be displayed – not that she dreamt or expected it to happen in her lifetime. This exhibit is the latest of Limpin’s many group and solo shows.

The works at Sarmíng might be art for some and fart for others. Outsider art, untrained craft, mere daubs and splashes, or whatever you call it – drop by anyway. Paintings will be the main course and poetry readings the hors d'oeuvre. And while you’re there, sample the menu and have a round of drinks at this new art resto this side of the metro.

THE ARTISTS

Mariane Amor Romina T. Abuan, fondly called Ynna by friends and family, has been painting since 2003 but kept her works a secret except to those close to her. Her main passion is writing verse; she was a Fellow in the 9th UST National Writers Workshop for English Poetry and the 2008 LIRA Filipino Poetry Workshop. She is the newly elected Public Relations Officer of the Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA) and a founding member of the Dapitdilim Fellowship of Writers. A graduate of BA Philosophy from the University of Santo Tomas, Ynna is finishing her MA in Creative Writing; she has an outstanding bet that she will finish her thesis this year.

Vivian N. Limpin (nicknamed Beng) is an artist that goes by many labels: writer, poet, photographer, painter, filmmaker... and we’re not actually sure that it ends there. She is a graduate of BA Malikhaing Pagsulat sa Filipino from the University of the Philippines. As a wordsmith, Beng has won a Palanca Award and has earned Fellowships to the 22nd UP National Writers Workshop, 19th Cornelio Faigao Writers Workshop, and 2002 LIRA Poetry Workshop. Her films, photos, and paintings have been shown locally and internationally, as well as having snagged their share of awards. Currently, she is the Secretary of the Linangan sa Retorika, Imahen, at Anyo (LIRA) and is a member of the Board of Directors of Tudla Productions, a progressive student video documentary organization.

LRTART2009

LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT AUTHORITY

in partnership with the

PHILIPPINE ASSOCIATION OF PRINTMAKERS

Present

LRTART2009

BACKGROUND

LRTArt 2009 is a flagship project of the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), recognized as the premier rail transit authority in Metro Manila, and the Philippine Association of Printmakers, Inc. (PAP), the prime movers of multiple original artworks in the country. This project is a national painting competition, which aims to promote art while raising consciousness of train riding as a way of life in the metropolis among Filipino commuters.

ELIGIBILITY

The competition is open to all Filipino citizens age18 years old and above as of May 30, 2009. Entrants must present a valid ID and/or document showing birth date and citizenship when submitting their entry (passport, school ID, birth certificate, driver's license, voter's ID, senior citizen ID), and must submit together with the entry form a photocopy of the same. Each entrant may submit only one entry. Employees of the LRTA as well as Officers and Board Members of the Philippine Association of Printmakers are not eligible to participate in the competition.

THEME

The theme for this year's competition is: "LRT at ang Buhay Pinoy". The artist is encouraged to explore the subject and respond to the theme to the best of his ability.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

The Artwork: Entries must have been done in the year 2009, must be the entrant's original and exclusive work, and must not have been exhibited, revised, nor entered in any other competition. Medium: Oil or acrylic on canvas only. Size: 3 feet x 4 feet excluding frame, horizontal or vertical in orientation, and not thicker than 2inches in width. Entries must be wall bound. Appropriate support, and/or equivalent devices should be provided to ensure proper hanging of the art work. Only box type frame or museum wrap (gallery wrap) will be accepted. Entries must be signed but must be covered with masking tape prior to submission (to conceal artist's identity).

Wet paintings will not be accepted

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Upon submission, the entrant must also submit together with the entry, the following in order to qualify:

Completely furnished and signed official entry form

Signed and notarized affidavit (attached with entry form)

Photocopy of required ID (see B. under Eligibility)

One 2x2 ID photo of the artist

One 4R color photograph of his/her work bearing the following information at the back:

Artist's name, title of work, medium, and selling price.

• There is NO entry fee for the competition

• The entrant must be responsible for the transport of his/her work to and from the venue of submission/retrieval.

SUBMISSION DATE AND VENUE

Submission of all entries will be on May 30, 2009, Saturday, between 8:00 am to 5:00 pm only at the LRT Cubao Station West Side. For provincial entries, the participant must advise Mail Forwarders that entry will only be accepted on the said date, time and venue. Participants from the provinces are encouraged to organize the shipping of their works together to make cost of transport cheaper.

AWARDS

One GRAND PRIZE winner to receive PhP 200,000.00 exclusive of tax

Five JURORS' CHOICE to receive PhP 100,000.00 each exclusive of tax

Six FINALISTS to receive PhP 50,000.00 each exclusive of tax

• All winning entries will automatically become the property of the LRTA. LRTA reserves all rights to its reproduction.

• All entrants shall be given a certificate of participation.

OTHER PROVISIONS

The LRTA reserves the right to use the name and photo of the artist and his/her work for free in any broadcast or print media. The artist also grants the LRTA and the PAP the right to exhibit the entries as deemed fit and shall have the right to decide which of the entries will be selected for inclusion in the exhibition and the catalogue. Winning entries and selected none winning entries will be exhibited at the Cubao Station East Side from July 11 to August 10, 2009. Selected none winning entries will be offered for sale to the general public subject to 20% commission due the Philippine Association of Printmakers, Inc., the organizer, to support their programs and projects. All possible care will be taken for the handling and security of the entries submitted. However, the LRTA and the PAP assume no responsibility for any loss of or damage to the entry or entries before, during and after the competition/ exhibition due to force majeure.

RETRIEVAL OF ENTRIES

All entrants whose entries are selected for the exhibition will be notified via email, text or phone call by June 5, 2009. If entrant does not receive any notification, he must retrieve his/her work within the period from June 6 to 13, 2009 between 9:00am to 5:00pm only. Unclaimed works may be forfeited. The rest of the none-winning entries that are included in the exhibition may be retrieved at the submission site from August 10 to August 21, 2009 from 9am to 5pm only. Only entrants or their representatives with official retrieval form will be released the entry.

AWARDING & EXHIBITION OPENING

Awarding of winners and exhibition opening will be held on July 11, 2009, Saturday, at 4:00 in the afternoon at the LRT Cubao Station East Side, to coincide with the LRTA anniversary.

PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE

Drawing inspiration from both ancient and sci-fi mythologies, the exhibition intends to create a re-articulated amalgamation of the two. Sculptural pieces which either appear like artifacts from some archaic civilization or products of some advanced alien world. There is an apparent theatricality and artificiality in the look of these pieces perpetuating our fictionalized conceptions of the past and future.

The show mainly consists of sculptural pieces - be it wall-bound relief, free-standing and/or suspended – done in fiberglass, silicone and/or plastic. Sizes may vary from life-size to average toy-size. The show will be installed in such a way that it resembles a science museum of sorts.

Art Informal is located at 277 Connecticut Street, Greenhills East, Mandaluyong City. The exhibition will run from March 18 – April 13, 2009. For information, sms +63918.899.2698.

SHE KEPT IT BLEEDING 'TIL THE SECOND ROUND

Janet Balbarona

“She Kept It Bleeding ‘Til the Second Round”

by Yonina Chan

Caught in the fragile, fateful moment between holding on and letting go, Janet Balbarona’s first solo show attempts to piece together the remains of memory and emotion, each painfully carted from past experiences and gingerly assembled into surreal visual narratives that flesh out the experiences of anger, sadness, loss, and disappointment.

As with Balbarona’s previous works, the pieces in “She Kept It Bleeding ‘Til the Second Round” are unapologetically autobiographical. Largely expressionistic compositions depict actual events in hyperrealistic snatches, and inevitably reveal the complex workings of the artist’s inner world. People are portrayed with a sentimental detailing of faces and clothes, which suggests the artist’s attempt to process and preserve her relationship experiences through her idiosyncratic fixation on fashion. Conversely, other perceivably less important elements—hands, feet, bodies, furniture, backdrops—are left to fade away into open space.

In alluding to the underlying story behind each piece, various subjects—many strange, mundane, or just seemingly out of place—weave dreamlike into each other, implying a connection between them: a flood of Valiums, a cigarette studded deer, old typewriters, bamboo shoots and leaves (notably done in traditional Chinese painting style), baboons, and bandana-wrapped skulls, to name a few. While obviously alluding to very personal symbolism, there is nevertheless a playful sense of accessibility to each painting which encourages the viewer to surrender to their own fantasy and the impossible logic that the compositions afford.

While Balbarona previously held onto painful emotions or “kept it bleeding” as a kind of motivation for her art, she now considers her work moving towards closure and catharsis. In fleshing out her demons on the canvas, she captures a delicate and ultimately precious illuminating pause which underscores the images of confusion, indifference, tiredness, and pain, thus offering a sense of hope and possibility in a very subtle yet powerful way.

“She Kept It Bleeding ‘Til the Second Round,” opens on Monday, March 23, 6PM at Blanc Gallery, Makati. Blanc Gallery is located at 2E Crown Tower, 107 H.V. Dela Costa St., Salcedo Village, Makati. For more information, please visit www.blanc.ph or www.blancartspace. multiply. com, or contact 752-0032, 0920-9276436 or info@blanc.ph.

MANILABOX

ManilaBox

Photography Art Exhibition by

Onaka Koji

Noell EL Farol

Sound Art Performance (opening reception) by

Seido Toshiyuki

Lirio Salvador

Object + Sound by:

Ruel Caasi

Noell EL Farol

Renato Ong

Mervy Pueblo

Lirio Salvador

Seido Toshiyuki

Real-Time Transcribers (live sound art performance):

John Carlo Jacinto

Joyce Mallari

opens on Sunday, 6 pm,

March 22, 2009

at Kaida Art Gallery

Kamuning Road, Quezon City

opening reception: 6 pm., March 22, Sunday

“ManilaBox” Concept

Celebrating the Philippine-Japan Friendship Month and the Arts & Culture Month offer this unique photography-cum-performance art presentation entitled “ManilaBox”.

“ManilaBox” sets new parameters in an exhibition that combines photography, sound art performance and sound objects all in one unique show.

Photographs chronicles small slots of time in history which serve as testament to the multitude of experiences that shaped and defined Manila, reflecting memories cast in its landscape and culture. It features the contemporary conditions that construct and reconstruct the urban landscape of Manila through subtle views and raw appreciation of Japanese contemporary photographer, Koji Onaka and the diagnostic anthropological link in re-examining the surviving features of urban landscape by Filipino multi-media artist, Noëll EL Farol.

Onaka and EL Farol’s photographic landscape images convey the different sensitivities of the photographers- from the eyes of a foreigner and a resident local artist. Onaka, a full-time photographer with a degree in Photography creates large-scale theatrical panoramic photos. EL Farol, whose studies involves archaeology, reveals the panoply of memories and emotions bringing private moments into being, entitled “Settlement series”. Their works reflects the social, political and cultural environment of the Filipinos in its defining existence.

Collaborating in the exhibition for a live art performance is Seido Toshiyuki, a Tokyo-based sound art performance artist interacting with Filipino contemporary sound experimentalist, Lirio Salvador.

Toshiyuki’s “The Manila Golden Noises Album”, a collection of recorded and manipulated live noises of Manila, shall be formally launched during the opening day of the exhibit. Toshiyuki transformed Onaka and EL Farol’s photographs into a template of cards ( about the size of a calling card) with his recorded "sound art" and noises the result, “The Manila Golden Noises Album”, uniquely presented similar as a gift box in a limited edition of 250 boxes.

Extending the concept of sound art and concurrent in this unique show at the Gray Wall of the gallery are objects that emit sounds, complementing the distinguishing importance of sound element. Features are the one-of-the-kind objects produced by contemporary visual artists, namely Ruel Caasi, Noëll EL Farol, Lirio Salvador, Renato Ong, Mervy Pueblo and Chitz Ramirez.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING JUVENAL

The Importance of Being JUVENAL"

An art exhibitition by JUVENAL SANSO

AS a tribute to the multi-awarded and internationally renowned artist Juvenal Sanso, Galerie Stephanie has put together some 30 interesting collectible works culled from the past two and a half decades of his eventful career.

In many of these works, one will note the introspection and deep inspiration of the artist, while in others, one will note the joy of summer, providing an inspired interpretation to the artist's favorite subject in his paintings.

Show is from March 21, 2009 to April 4, 2009. Preview starts on March 16, 2009. Authentication Signing on March 29, 2009 at Galerie Stephanie. Parc Plaza Bldg. 183. E. Rodriguez Jr Ave. Libis Q.C. Tel 7091488 / 09178948869. email : galeriestephanie@yahoo.com

CHABET: WAITING IN LINE TO SEE THE TRINITY SITE

Chabet: Waiting in Line to see the Trinity Site

by: Roberto Chabet

PASEO Gallery-Megamall

4th Level, Building A, SM Megamall

Mandaluyong City

24 March- 13 April 2009

Paseo Gallery-Megamall is honoured to host Roberto Chabet’s painting-installation ‘Chabet: Waiting in line to see the Trinity Site’, a satellite exhibition to a series of exhibitions that the artist is slated to mount this year; these shows has come to be known as the ‘birthday shows’. Working with sophisticated and unconventional art strategies that pieces together associations triggered by chosen components in forming a highly personal rebus, lending an idea to a venue or exhibit site is even a puzzle piece that the artist chooses to work with. The exhibition is a virtual alchemical synthesis of myth, memory, history and the everyday from which we can intuit the sublime.

Inviting a Beckettian reading, the exhibition title alludes to a snapshot of an endless line of vehicles parked along a lonely desert highway that belong to curious onlookers catching a glimpse of the historic landmark. Trinity is the name Oppenheimer, ‘Father of the Atomic Bomb’, christened the clandestine site for the original ground zero, where the atom was split and heralded the nuclear age. The photograph wryly captures the irony and ambiguity of a defining moment of the modern era reduced to an object of detached fascination- a tourist’s pilgrimage site to what once gave shape to a generation’s collective anxiety and hidden desires.

Accompanying the photograph are the familiar array of objects and assemblages that make up the artist’s terse but distinct visual language: painted plywood panels, clipboards, neon signs and bracketed shelves. On the clipboard are inserted pages of interior shots of cathedral domes that allude to the architectural structure of heaven. Ensconced between the shelves are a series of discs painted red yellow and blue- they are analogous references the celestial spheres of Andreas Cellarius’ ‘Harmony of the Cosmos’ that map the cosmology of Ptolemy, Copernicus and Brahe. Neon arrow signs act us cryptic signposts that cue us into the hidden poetry of his perplexing geometrical constructs and the understated romanticist streak behind the conceptualist trapping that perpetually seeks the magnificent and the marvellous in the humdrum of everyday life.

He is the country’s foremost conceptual artist and is arguably the most influential figure in the local art scene for the last two decades, nurturing and guiding the artistic development of some of the most relevant and exciting artists to emerge in recent years. In a class of his own, Chabet is a virtual artistic barometer or yardstick by which local contemporary artists, whether for or against, measure up or contend with their own craft.

Waiting in Line to see the Trinity Site opens on 24 March 2009 at Paseo Gallery-Megamall. The exhibit is on view until 13 April 2009. Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM, Saturdays & Sundays 10:00 AM to 10:00PM. For enquiries please contact Paseo Gallery offices at 4th Level Building A, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City,Philippines , 3rd Floor Glorietta 4, Ayala Center, Makati City,Philippines.Telephone Numbers: Paseo Gallery-Megamall 706-5514 / Paseo Gallery-Glorietta 728-0168, Mobile: /+63922-887-2736 / +63917-526-8082 or email: pat.olazo@yahoo.com

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AZOOL INC.

302 Narra Bldg.

2276 Pasong Tamo Ext. Makati City

Email: azool.inc@gmail.com

RESURECCION

res.ur.rec.tion [rez-uh-rek- shun] n. 1 a rising again from the dead, 2 state of those risen from the dead,3 the rising of Christ from the dead, 4 a rising again, as from decay, disuse, etc.; revival, restoration

RESURECCION (resurrection)

opening on March 28, 2009
Saturday. 6:00PM.
My Little Art Place
222 Wilson St. Greenhills, San Juan


Benjie Torrado Cabrera
Bunch Garcia
Carlo Claudio
Con Cabrera
Convocar
Felix Bacolor
Ingrid Almazan
James Ben
J.Pacena II
Loren Marquez
Mike Andaya
Niña Theresa Parreño
Niño Hernandez
Nityalila Saulo
Noel P. Tan
Patrick "Kinigtot" Bacolor
Recci Bacolor
Rhea Cathrina Consorio
Shaira Luna
Tanya Escaler
Tootoots Leyesa
Xander Calceta
Zeus Bascon

curated by Recci Bacolor
exhibit runs until April 15, 2009

phone: 409.4122
email: mylittleartplace@ gmail.com
http://mylittleartp lace.multiply. com

THE HUMANITY PHOTO AWARDS 2009

The Office of Asian and Pacific Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs are inviting Philippine participation in the Humanity Photo Awards 2009.

This competition, which is jointly organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the China Folklore Photographic Association, aims to call upon photographers to record and protect the heritage of folk culture. Provided below are the contact details of the organizer:

CHINA FOLKLORE PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION
P.O. Box 8006, Beijing 100082, PRC
Suite 312, Building 14 Wenhuiyuan, Haidian District, Beijing
Telephone/Fax: +86 10 6225 2175
E-mail: hpa@china-fpa.org
URL: http://www.china-fpa.org/en

HPA (Humanity Photo Award) 2009——the world folk photo contest is on entry now. A stage for you to record and share the world folk culture with other photographers all over the world

Entry Closing Date: 15th April 2009 Award Ceremony Date: 16th September 2009

About HPA:
1. The only world folk photo contest all over the world;
2. Launched by CFPA (China Folklore Photographic Association);
3. Five successful contests in the past;
4. Supported by UNESCO;
5. 94 nationalities have participated in the HPA contests;
6. Each entry should consist of a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 12 photographs;
7. Attractive bonus plus transportation fee and a 3-day hotel accommodation for the ceremony if you win the award;
8. 166 awards in total;
9. Famous and honest judges all from different nationalities.

For the details of the HPA 2009 contest, please view the link below: http://www.china-fpa.org/en/hpa2009/list.asp

JUAN DE FRIENDS

Guerrero Habulan displays his immaculate realist skill in his first overseas solo show, with Norman Rockwell type figures juxtaposed against strongly ethnic Filipinos. Juan de Friends showcases exclusively at Utterly Art Exhibition Space, 229A South Bridge Road (2nd Level), Singapore 058778 from Thursday 26th March to Sunday 5th April 2009. The opening hours are from Monday-Saturday: 12noon - 8pm and Sunday: 12noon – 5.30pm. We can be contacted at 6226 2605 (Kenneth or Keng Hock) or through utterlyart@pacific.net.sg. The opening reception is on Thursday 26th March 2009 at 7pm. Members of the press are most welcome to attend. Attendance at the exhibition is free.

Artist’s Statement:

Juan de Friends is a word play that comes from the famous American comic strip Wonder Friends, comprising superheroes with special powers. Juan (John) represents the Filipino people, and his powerful American companions are represented by the Wonder Friends. Thus, the concept is an analogy of how Filipinos look up to the Americans. For most Filipinos, the United States of America is a dream land where Juan could earn a living and hopefully raise living standards for his family. The mighty Wonder Friends positions the West to be powerful in the eyes of Juan, and as a Filipino who yearns to be rescued from his poverty, he looks up to his superhero saviours…

About the artist:

Guerrero Z. Habulan graduated form the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts with a Major in Visual Communication. A member of the popular Antipolo-based art collective Sanviaje, Guerrero has exhibited in several galleries in Metro Manila, Singapore and Malaysia, as well as with his father, the important social realist Renato Habulan. Juan de Friends is his fourth solo exhibition and first overseas.

ZEITGEIST BECOMES FORM: GERMAN FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY 1945 - 1995

Zeitgeist Becomes Form: German Fashion Photography 1945 – 1995
26 February - 25 April 2009
Yuchengco Museum
RCBC Plaza, Ayala Avenue corner Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City

The ifa exhibition "Zeitgeist Becomes Form" German Fashion Photography 1945 - 1995" is more than just a simple history of fashion and how it was photographed. This exhibition, which comprises 188 photographs, offers much more, namely an overview, comprising a myriad of facets, which covers fifty years of the photography of fashion in Germany.

The pictorial language of the respective photographers, the model, her or his as well as the clothing, the background, and the technical quality of the photographer take the viewer far beyond the respective 'ins,' fads and trends of fashion, giving information of extraordinary interest about the so-called Zeitgeist ("spirit of the times"), about changes in society, codes of morality, and the feelings and longings of people at a certain point in time. Curator F.C. Gundlach has selected 39 photographers for this 'tour' of five decades of fashion photography--from Wolfgang Tillmans to Peter Lindbergh, Helmut Newton, Olaf Martens, and Jurgen Teller to his own works.

"Zeitgeist Becomes Form: German Fashion Photography 1945 - 1995" is an exhibition of the Institut fur Auslandsbeziehungen e.V. (ifa)/Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations presented by the Goethe-Institut Manila, Rogue Magazine, and Yuchengco Museum in cooperation with YoCard. Exhibition catalogues are available at the museum's Books & Gifts Corner for P1,500.

The Yuchengco Museum is open to the public Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is P100 for adults, P50 for students, and P25 for children and senior citizens. For more information, contact the Yuchengco Museum at 889-1234 or e-mail info@yuchengcomuseum.org.

BETWEEN THE SEA AND THE SKY

Christina Dy
between the sky and the sea
March 26 - May 2
Opening reception on March 26, Thursday, 6pm

SLab (Silverlens Lab) presents between the sea and the sky, new large drawings by Christina Dy. The show will have its opening reception on March 26, Thursday at 6pm. Last year, CD traveled to Australia to create a site-specific drawing in Beyond Frame: Philippine Photomedia at the University of Technology-Sydney Gallery. between the sea and the sky draws from CD’s amazed experience with the open spaces, both parks and beaches, that are possible within an urban sprawl as exemplified by Sydney, a stark contrast with Manila’s gray urban congestion where the artist lives. CD elaborates, “Every spare moment was spent outdoors—at parks looking at the sky, or at the beaches which were just 30-minute bus rides away. I have never seen that much sky, or that much sea, before. Not in that frequency and not in that kind of vastness.”

An artist that continues to challenge herself, Christina Dy has been creating large-scale charcoal works that push the boundaries of the medium. Her drawings, are both large and intimate, reminiscent of seeing someone up close for the first time. Her first solo show in Silverlens Gallery, Curtains Matching Carpet, was part of the exclusive shortlist of artists for the 2008 Ateneo Art Awards. In 2009, Dy was named one of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ 13 Artists Awardees.

between the sea and the sky by Christina Dy runs from March 26 to May 2, 2009 at SLab (Silverlens Lab). Dy will be giving an artist talk on April 18, Saturday, from 3-5pm between the sea and the sky will be shown along with Neal Oshima at Silverlens and Mac Valdezco at 20Square.


Image:
Christina Dy
Sea1, 2009

ART SINGAPORE 2009

ARTSingapore 2009


The Bureau of Export Trade Promotion - Department of Trade and Industry and ARTREACH PTE LTD of Singapore is inviting Philippine participation in the forthcoming ARTSingapore 2009, which will be held at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Center on 08-12 October 2009.

ARTSingapore 2009 is the most significant visual arts event in Southeast Asia showcasing contemporary Asian art ranging from paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, photographs and digital arts; and where the Philippines can launch mainstream and new artists to both the Asian and world markets; test the market and explore new business opportunities and matching; network and foster business relationships; and gather new ideas from the art trade. Participation is open to all art collectors, art galleries, art dealers and art aficionados but has a vetting process to ensure quality of art pieces and participation.

Opportunities abound in Singapore and elsewhere in the world market because of growing interest for RP's visual arts sector. Philippine paintings are increasingly known and have been fetching considerable sums in arts auctions of Sotheby's, Christies', Borobudur and commercial art galleries. Because of this trend and vast export potential, the DTI is encouraging Philippine participation to maximize all possible export opportunities at this time.

For inquiries, please contact:

MS. FENINA M. BONOAN
Assistant Chief/Project Coordinator
ASEAN/Other Asia Division
BUREAU OF EXPORT TRADE PROMOTION
DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
2/F DTI-International Building
375 Sen. Gil J. Puyat Avenue
Makati City 1200 Philippines
Tel.: (632) 890-4692/(632) 890-4752 Local 243
Fax: (632) 890-4655
E-mail: fennybonoan@yahoo.com
betpfmb@dti.gov.ph

Or you may direct queries to the event organizers:

MS. CHEN SHEN PO
Fair Director
ARTREACH PTE LTD
140 Hill street, #01-03 MICA Building
Singapore 179369
Tel.: (65) 6235-4113
Fax: (65) 6734-9332
Mobile: (65) 9637-6448
E-mail: shenpo@artsingapore.net

For more details, please log on to: http://www.artsingapore.net

KALEIDOSCOPE WORLD

Village Art Gallery presents "Kaleidoscope World" by Franklin Caña

To usher the summer months, Village Art Gallery introduces Franklin Caña who comes to the South with an artistic repertoire that is distinctively impressive. Painting in happy, angst-free style, Caña’s rendition of familiar themes comes in a profusion of vivid yet calm colors. His lines are bold yet graceful so that figures may not be immediately recognizable but still intriguing and captivating at the same time.

Catch Caña’s best output of the season. Come at Village Art Gallery’s summer art exhibit on March 20, 2009, let’s meet you over cocktails at 6:30pm.


Sam Galvez-Lorenzo
Village Art Gallery

1st Level New Wing
Alabang Town Center
Muntinlupa City
0920 9504206
850 7710