UNEARTHING : WOMYNIST BONES AND SEXUALITY

Unearthing: Womynist Bones and Sexuality-Unearthing the hearth of the feminine.

When the river does not run, rest awhile, rip through reality, rake up the rust, embrace what you’ll find. Reclaim and from there, a hope to redeem radiance.

Ten artists run and rhyme with one another as they uncover and recover the feminine in “Unearthing: Womynist Bones and Sexuality”, an exhibitof paintings, sketches and installations on March 1-14 at the Philam Life Center for the Arts, United Nations Avenue, Ermita, Manila.

Unearthing: Womynist Bones and Sexuality features the works of AJ Tolentino, Azalea Mazon-Camps, Benay Reyes, Ivy Universe Baldoza,Joana De Leon-Hoffmann, Ligaya Domingo, Lydia Cabasco, Maan De Loyola, Rimaq Joaquin Palma and Tif Guevara- a group of artists from and ofdifferent backgrounds prime a range of works to provoke and evoke the woman within.

A celebration of International Women’s Month, the exhibit aims to commune with the woman in each one in order to facilitate dialogue onwomen’s realities- unearthed in the eyes of these ten artists. A take-off from Clarissa Pinkola- Estes’ book, Women Who Run with theWolves, these artists procure arresting sections as they translate their own visual and tactile narratives.

The works in turn, aspire to stir and spur awareness from the audience and elicit response to the different issues and archetypes associatedwith the woman, her processes, truths and ideals.

For more inquiries on Unearthing Exhibit, please e-mail unearthingexhibit@gmail.com or check the website: http://www.unearthingexhibit.com

JOSEPH MICHAEL T. PATRICIO
(Researcher / Dance Artist)
KALOOB Philippine Music and Dance Ministry
Folk Arts Theater, Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex
Roxas Blvd. Pasay City, Philippines 1308
+632 8321120 (Office)
+632 5514411 (Fax)
+639282467755 (Mobile)kutipyo@gmail.com

A DISCOURSE ON BAD TASTE AND GUILTY PLEASURES

Argie Bandoy mocks “image-reading” as he unveils his new set of paintings and collages he deems to be independent of ideas in his show “A discourse on bad taste and guilty pleasures”. He describes the images from this set as mere color territories, penmanship and style as they endeavor to exemplify style rather than the signification.

Opening Cocktails on 5 March 2010 at six o’clock in the evening.

"A discourse on bad taste and guilty pleasures" runs from 5 March to 25 March 2010

NOVA Gallery is located at Warehouse 10A, La Fuerza Compound, 2241 Don Chino Roces Ave., Makati City.

For inquiries and information call 392-7797 or send an electronic mail to gallerynova@gmail.com.

BLACK TENDENCIES

About the exhibition:
In his most recent collection of eerie, patterned portraitures, Andres Barrioquinto suggests the alternate possibilities of things, and the brittle, fragile fulcrum that lies between the extreme polarities of good and evil. His paintings reflect the presence of tendencies, as a clean, white canvas has a natural inclination to turn black with just a few unconscious strokes of an artist’s restless brush. According to the artist, these self-contained imageries depict “dark” people living in a blissful, colorful world, a surreal paradise of falling flower petals and drifting kaleidoscopic butterflies. More like early repentant sinners who try (desperately) to live against the temptations of both flesh and soul. Barrioquinto explains that the figures were intentionally depicted in a crestfallen, monochromatic state, to emphasize the emptiness of the soul, or perhaps their utterly hopeless longing to have one. Around these characters is an explosion of decorative fragments, forcing in a cacophony of screaming colors. Flowers, birds, black trees with golden leaves, cats, butterflies — everything cries in a visual noise of three-dimensional sensory overload, which is impressively contained inside the four, flat closures of the artist’s square canvases. Each painting is coupled with a poem written by Andres’ good friend Dave Lock, who has been doing essays for his recent one-man shows. The words are portraits frozen in a narrative state, hiding in each a story of their own. “It’s the innate order of things. If you’re good, then your tendency is to turn bad, and vice versa.” Barrioquinto says, referring to the simple, yet complex reality of things. Iconographies and subtle representations of evil lie afloat inside his present batch of paintings. Skull-mark repetitions, dead trees, black sheep, and even oversized sumos are found drifting along with his portraitures. These representational designs may refer to a summary of the seven deadly sins or more simply, the things that wickedly turn tendencies into stark realities. “What happens when you mix all the colors in the background?” Barrioquinto asks, as we end the interview.

I thought for a while, and I realized, “Black”.


About the artist:
Andres Barrioquinto (b. 1975, Philippines) graduated in Fine Arts (Painting) from the University of Santo Tomas in 2000. A prestigious recipient of the Thirteen Artists Award (2003) bestowed by the Cultural Centre of the Philippines, Black Tendencies is his 18th solo exhibition and 5th in Singapore. The exhibition introduces a new, deeply layered and patterned style into his genre.

SPITTLE

Spittle
Photographs by Jed Escueta
Opens Feb 27, 2010
Prose Gallery
3rd floor
832 Pasay Rd
Corner Edades
Makati.

ECOWARRIORS

BenCab Museum invites you to its 1st anniversary exhibition

ECOWARRIORS
Paintings & drawings in mixed media
By John Frank Sabado

Saturday 27 February
From 4:00 to 7:00pm

With a performance by the artist at 3:45pm
The exhibition will be on view until 27March

Gallery Indigo
BenCab Museum
Km.6 Asin Road, Tuba, Metro Baguio
Tel. +63 74 4427165
Email: bencabartfoundation@gmail.com

REUNION

Having a reunion is like taking a step back in time. Recalling past memories, coupled with the anticipation of seeing old classmates, drums up the excitement. Everyone seems to be keen and enthusiastic to touch base and catch up with one another. And after twenty years, the long wait of the alumni of UP CFA Studio Arts Batch of 1989 has finally ended.

The group has just found the best way to rekindle their friendships once again through nothing less than in doing what they know best – by staging a group exhibit. Aptly entitled “REUNION”, this show signifies the group’s renewed commitment to further forge their bonds as artists. It is through this show that they would like to re-connect with their muse and pursue their passion in the arts.

The participating artists are: Tessa Alcantara, Grandier Bella, Daniel Coquilla, Susan Corpuz, Kweenie Young-Cotton, Aba Lluch Dalena, Jasper De Leon, Norman Dreo, Juan Sajid Imao, Nikulas Lebajo, Jesus Lozada, Joey Luna, Noel Mahilum, Marc Malto, Dayong Mendoza, J.J. San Pascual, Paul Quiaño, Omar Sebastian, Kris Soguilon, and Rogel Tapang. Exhibition design is by Nilo Ilarde.

Sining Kamalig, in celebration of the National Arts Month, proudly presents REUNION. The gallery is situated at the 4th Level of the Gateway Mall, Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City. The exhibition runs from 22 February until 14 March 2010.

Opening reception will be on 22 February 2010 at 6PM.

For more information, contact:
Sining Kamalig… an art gallery
Tel: (632) 4013457 / Mobile: (0917) 5001886
Email: siningkamalig@gmail.com

2010 PIVAF AT SHANGRI-LA PLAZA MALL

2010 Philippine International Visual Arts Fest (PIVAF) in Shangri-la Plaza Mall
Didith Ocampo-Ladao 02.17.2010

The National Committee for Visual Arts (NCVA) of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) celebrates its annual Philippine International Visual Arts Fest (PIVAF) from February 24 to 28, 2010 at the Atrium of Shangri-La Plaza Mall in Mandaluyong.

Highlighting the arts fest is a comprehensive art exhibition featuring several of the best visual artists from the National Capital Region and the rest of Luzon. The opening ceremonies at the Shangri-la Plaza Atrium at 3PM on February 24 will be followed by a series of art lectures and demonstrations by luminaries in their respective fields:

February 25, 2010 at 2:00 PM
Pastel Painting Fundamentals by Salvador “Buds” Convocar, President of the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) beginning February 2008 – February 2010. He is also a member of the prestigious art group called Saturday Group.

February 26, 2010 at 2:00 PM
Printmaking : An Artform by Ambie Abaño, a printmaker, art educator and the current President of the Philippine Association of Printmakers, Inc. (PAP).

February 27, 2010 at 2:00 PM
Scrapology: From Nothing to Something by Ral Arrogante, head of the Society of Philippine Sculptors (SPS). He is popularly known for his distinct scrap metal sculptures.

February 28, 2010 at 2:00 PM
Creative Photography Made Easy by Jay Alonzo, well-known commercial and editorial photographer and teacher of photography. He is also a contributing photographer for magazines Mabuhay and High Life.

For details, contact Didith Ocampo-Ladao at one_workshop@yahoo.com
(+63919) 427-0866

TUMBA-TUMBA

It is not surprising that the terms we use to denote elements of play are the same words we use for aesthetics. Balance, poise, tension, contrast, and variation come into mind. In this exhibition, the archaic imagery of the bul’ol, the cultural icon of our primeval past is used to recreate a feeling of spontaneity- another shared attribute of play and art. The post-modern bul’ol figure now detached from its role as a ritual accessory- is relieved of its soot-black serenity. Playful poses supplant the rigidity of the venerated icon, rendered in colors associated with fun and the contemporary.

Using Huizinga’s treatise on the play elements of culture, the artist threads the fine line between creating playthings and creating play elements. A collection of mobile inter-active sculptures scattered on the floor, iconic figureheads and a hagabi make up an installation that is distinct in its playfulness without losing the aura of an aesthetic space. Play is depicted as fun and agonistic at the same time: a “tight-rope” performance, a balancing act, an archaic ritual indispensable for real life. It is with regret that contemporary man has lost most of this ritual and sacred play, worn out with too much sophistication. Art as play, and not play as art, accomplishes itself outside and above the necessities and seriousness of everyday life.

In this sphere of sacred play, the child and the poet are at home with the savage. Subject matter is ordinary life, ordinary people doing ordinary things. Mothers playing with sons, fathers playing with daughters; expectant mother heavy with child, the neighborhood drunk heavy with his beer gut; people in toil, people in leisure. In this play area, the imperfect world and the confusion of life is rendered limited perfection, albeit temporary.

Between ritual and play, we grapple with the problem posed by non-initiates in their quest for what they view as authentic elements of culture. Rituals become performances for non-local audiences; art become mere trinkets for adornment- the finer nuances of play no longer a factor by which the society is civilized. Sacred play is forever lost in reflexivity due to continuous modifications brought about by social experiences with other societies.

Artinformal is at 277 Connecticut St. Greenhills East, Mandaluyong. For inquiries: Telefax 63(2) 7258518 or visit www.artinformal.com.

GRAVEN IMAGES

Graven Images
JCrisanto Martinez
20 February – 06 March 2010
Whitewall Gallery



SEVEN

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Wearing gilded crowns, JCrisanto Martinez’ Graven Images show seven relief sculptures of the deadly sins. In his first venture into figuration, the artist invokes images of envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride, sloth and wrath in a mix of resin, gold-plated brass, carved plate and old wood panels rendered with acrylic and enamel paint, making tangible the Gods worshipped by men of the flesh.

“I found it ironic that people openly worshipped certain idols yet have hypocritically avoided to openly worshiping those ‘GODS’ they would love most: the Gods of wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. I simply made a personification of these ‘Gods’,” the artist stated when asked about the inspiration for his latest exhibition.

The images are placed on pedestals of varying heights, providing a multi-level setting for the audience to scrutinize. This configuration along with the Spanish-Latin translations of the Seven Deadly Sins that serve as the artworks’ names underscore the artist’s intention to present them in ironic reverence.

Nuestra Senora de Invidia (Envy) is represented by bile greens and mustard yellows reminiscent of seething acid. Nuestra Senora de Gula (Gluttony) has a distended, swollen belly where the medium is built up, the reflection of excessive and uncontrolled feasting. Nuestra Senora de Avaritia (Greed) has a spiky crown that warns of stabbing projectiles of inconsolable want. Nuestra Senora de Fornicatia (Lust) presents a gaping chasm ready to accept the adoration of worshippers. Nuestra Senora de Superbia (Pride) has a bronzed armor of arrogance. Nuestra Senora de Socordia (Sloth) seethes with passive energy while Nuestra Senora de Ira (Wrath) has the threatened violence of a loaded gun.

With these representations, the artist makes an effort to confront the Filipino’s definition of familiar iconography and penchant for religious idols. By interpreting the Cardinal Sins as figures and naming them as saints, it seems that Martinez himself is playing God with mixed media, shaping them into objects of his liking, creating physical symbols of a human being’s tendency to fall. His Graven Images may be seen collectively as both a statement and a warning, reminding us not to be mislead by false idols and rethinking what really drives us in our earthbound lives.

JCRISANTO MARTINEZ (Joseph Crisanto R. Martinez) is a visual artist, independent writer, web designer and graphic artist. He established the Cordillera Artists Central, an independent online promotions body which fosters the promotion of Filipino artists and Philippine Arts and Culture, and Artepinas, Inc., a non-stock, non-profit organization.

- Kaye O’Yek

RUSTIC SCENES

Rustic Scenes
Aaron Bautista
20 February – 06 March 2010
Whitewall Gallery


Aaron Bautista’s abstracts could hardly be called non-representational.

Because his paintings actually do represent something, be it a forgotten landscape taken from a dream, or the convicted patron saint of a land crying on the swift, relentless verge of urban development. His works whisper a silent story, or perhaps, plunges its viewers into a cerebral activity of interpreting images according to one’s own understanding of visual metaphors painted in wild, spontaneous layering of colors and everyday objects that one could often find on streets and ongoing construction sites.

Rustic Scenes is all about the ongoing development of the artist’s hometown Angono, towards the fast-paced track of urbanization. What was once a calm, uninterrupted land of rice fields and is now surprisingly an industrial haven of paved roads, and constructed modern houses. The nipa huts are long gone, and the reminiscent spots of green pasture where children used to play are now replaced either by basketball courts, or the pullulating number closed, box-like houses called computer shops. However, with these ideologies and comparisons at hand, Bautista says that he is not purely against urban development. It just happens that the system of expansion itself is not perfect, consisting of both negative and positive components. “Perhaps on some aspects it’s too much.” The artist explains “they should’ve at least left some areas as they were.”

And within the said concept of development, Aaron, incorporates the usage of familiar construction materials such as corrugated boards, nails, and even enamel paint, because for him, Angono is still in a fragile, “under-construction” state. His solid layering of gold on large areas of his works usually depict land, or to be more specific, the old rice fields where he once dreamed, played, and somehow thought that he would be an artist someday. The masterful play of interlacing black lines are usually the field lines where farmers grew their rice and other semi aquatic crops. If his paintings are to be viewed closely, more details would be noticeable, such as the recurring patterns of birds and cows. His works might deceive the limiting constraints of form and representation, but they are perfectly presented in a contextual narrative outline, so that the viewer could find it comfortable to structure the order of his spontaneous, unrestrained strokes into one solid image and idea. Bautista’s canvasses definitely follows the basic aesthetic premises of abstract art, but eventually breaks them down in terms of idea and visual depiction, absolutely implying that his fierce movement of colors and thick drippings of paint are not merely random emotional upsurges, but concrete existing likenesses of things that we see, and sometimes, refuse to see.

I could hardly define Aaron Bautista’s masterworks as abstract.

- Dave Lock

PAPER VIEW

Tala Gallery invites you to the opening of
" PAPER VIEW "

"Paper View" features works on paper of up and coming artist in the Philippines.
Opening on Sunday February 21, 2010, 6PM

See you all there!

exhibit runs until March 13, 2010

FEBRUARY EXHIBITS AT NINEVEH ARTSPACE

“7 DEADLY SINS” (4th solo exhibit of REYNALD “BON” MUJERES)
A 2nd-placer in the Metrobank Art and Design Excellence (MADE) contest, Bon is a product of the Fine Arts course in UP Diliman. Born in Bacolod City, he is a full-time artist currently based in Manila. He has exhibited at Pinto Gallery and Boston Gallery; this is his 2nd solo at Nineveh.

“TORA-TORA” (1st solo of RAPHAEL PATNUBAY PAGARIGAN)
A graduate of the Phil.High School for the Arts (PHSA) and Fine Arts in UP Diliman, Raphy was the grand prize awardee of Caltex-DECS-DOST Science Art Contest when he was in grade 5. A native of Antipolo, he imagines in his canvases the Filipino experience in World War II.

“FRAGILE SILHOUETTES” (2nd solo of ARTURO SANCHEZ,JR)
Grand prize awardee(2006 Art Petron), finalist(2010 Phil Art Awards, Luzon) & 5-time MADE finalist,Art is a BS Architecture graduate of Technological Institute of the Phils. An Angono Artist Assoc member, he is known for his unique collages on mirror; his 1st solo was at Blanc, Makati.

“SARONG PANGMAGNO”(2-man show of JEFFREY & ERICK SALON)
Natives of Naga City,these two brothers have distinguished themselves in art contests. Jeffrey is a grand prize awardee of Art Petron 5 and has also won in Art Assoc. of Phils. (hon.mention,drawing) and MADE (2-time finalist). Erick has won 3rd prize in the mixed media category of AAP.

RECENT WORKS OF PAETE ARTISTS GUILD
8 members of this newly-established Paete-based group are exhibiting their distinctive sculptures and paintings, proof-positive of their versatility: Bayani Ray Acala, Angelo Baldemor, Berting Baldemor, Otep Bañez, Glenn Cagandahan, Tin Cagandahan, Ben Dailo and Edward Dave.

The exhibits will run up to March 16, 2010.
For details, please contact the undersigned at 0927-931-3951 or at (049) 572-6617.
You may also contact Marvien De Leon at 0905-428-1329/ (049) 501-6617 or visit www.esnips.com/web/ninevehartspace

INSCAPES

While flowers are obvious parts of a landscape, the magic of Suzette Bernardo-Montelibano’s photos is that they reveal a whole landscape within the flower – inner scenery that normal people miss as we are easily distracted by the more obvious explosion of colors and arrangements.

Bernardo-Montelibano gets up close and personal, shooting the hidden crevices of each flower. Suddenly the horizon is not as we know it; jade petals obey a different gravity; frangipani petals dance to a flamenco beat. So many secrets are revealed to the eye that knows how to discern the inner world of flowers – these are then blown-up to be shared with us in a big way.

Bernardo-Montelibano herself is shy – almost reclusive. But those close to her will tell you she has this uncanny knack for knowing how you feel even before you articulate it. One sees this sensitivity in her handling of photographic subjects (this is her second exhibit – the previous one also being a collection of flower images up close). “Flowers speak to me” – she says of her favorite subjects. Through them she gently invites the viewer to share her most amazing spirit within.

Inscapes is a more introspective take on flora – to walk through this exhibit is to be engulfed in a multifaceted environment that would otherwise have been negligible.

INSCAPES opens on 20 February 2010 at the Avellana Art Gallery, 2680 F. B. Harrison St., Pasay City. Gallery hours are from Monday to Saturday, 10 AM – 7 PM, Tel. 8338357; avellana_gallery@yahoo.com

Exhibit will run until March 31, 2010.

UNFOLDING HALF A CENTURY

THE Lopez Memorial Museum (LMM) turns 50 this month (February) and anniversary activities kick off with the launching on February 18 of the coffee table book, "Unfolding Half a Century: The Lopez Memorial Museum", alongside the opening of a cutting-edge exhibit, Threads: The Museum as Site for the Weaving of Tales.

Threads feature contemporary artists Jean Marie Syjuco, Ann Wizer, Myra Beltran, Jef Carnay, Ann Pamintuan, Leo Abaya and Kiri Dalena. Each artist has been invited to either craft a work taking off from their personal conception of the museum or to “cosplay" characters found in iconic works from the museum collection. Taken together, their works will speak on what museums do, as sites of remembrance and narrative-making. Highlights of these performances and installation pieces will be exhibited at the Rockwell Power Plant Mall North Court from February 19 to 25.

Parallel to this will be the opening to the public of LMM's 50th anniversary exhibition at the museums premises in Ortigas Center, Pasig. The exhibition, After the Fact evokes recollections of past exhibitions as well as a purview of future directions of LMM. It. features key works from the museum collection and works by Gaston Damag, Antipas Delotavo, Imelda Cajipe-Endaya and Keith Sicat.

What started as the personal collection of the late Lopez Group founder Eugenio H. Lopez Sr. has evolved into a trusted and well-loved Philippine institution. In fact, the Lopez Memorial Museum and Library collection now ranks as one of the finest in Asia.

Since its founding in 1960, the fine art section has grown from an initial collection of 19th century masterpieces consisting of 36 Juan Lunas and 182 Felix Resurreccion Hidalgos to include modern and contemporary pieces. The library currently counts over 19,000 Filipiniana titles by 12,000 authors, rare books, maps, manuscripts and literary works. With the institution’s digitization project and conservation laboratory, it provides quick and convenient access to materials while ensuring that these are preserved for future use.

Over the years, LMM has always been committed to move the institution forward by broadening its engagements outside its physical structure, as well as pursuing an interdisciplinary approach to its exhibitions and programs. After the Fact also occasions the launching of LMM’s new website from which visitors will be able to access a searchable and indexed archive of approximately 100,000 images.

Events:
February 18: “Unfolding” launch at the Rockwell Tent
February 19-25: Threads: The Museum as Site for the Weaving of Tales at Rockwell Power Plant Mall
until September 18: After the Fact at the Lopez Memorial Museum

Reference:
Rosan Cruz
Email: rcruz@benpres.com.ph
Tel : 449-2856
Mobile: 0918 888-9198

PINALAKANG TABING

Philipp Ines
Pinilakang Tabing
February 16- March 1, 2010
Paseo Gallery – Megamall

Philipp Ines' first solo show opens at Paseo Gallery

Pinilakang Tabing, the first one-man exhibit of new painter and art director Philipp Ines, will be shown at Paseo Gallery from February 16 to March 1, 2010.

Pinilakang Tabing's oil on canvas paintings fuse together elements of technology and tradition, history and modernity, cinema and painting. Rendered in a nascent and transitional style combining realism and stylization, the works juxtapose brightly-hued neon laser lights with sepia stills sourced from vintage Filipino cinema.

Philipp Ines studied Painting at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts in Diliman, Quezon City and was among the finalists at the 1999 Shell National Student Art competition. Ines worked as an art director at a major broadcasting company for six years before deciding to go full-time into painting in 2009.

The artist has been developing this series of works mixing the vintage and the modern since early 2008, when Ines first produced paintings simulating the effects of neon laser lights used in mainstream media and the advertising industry. Often, Ines sets these vivid lights over a backdrop of monochromatic vignettes from the past, whether fictive or documentary, fusing nostalgia and novelty into a single work.

In Pinilakang Tabing, Ines' intentionally sources images from dated Philippine films, particularly photographs from LVN film studio productions of the late 1930s to 1940s. Through referencing a then-incipient Philippine film industry and incorporating a technology associated with modernity, the artist creates ambivalent scenes where the line defining what is contemporary and modern is blurred, crossed over, and questioned.

Pinilakang Tabing by Philipp Ines opens on February 16, 2010 at the Paseo Gallery, 4th floor, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City . The show runs until March 1, 2010. For inquiries, please contact the gallery at (632) 7065514 or Mobile Number : +639228872736 , e-mail : paseogallery@yahoo.com

A REVELRY OF COLORS AND IMAGES

The NCCA Committee on Visual Arts, headed by Egai Talusan Fernandez, will mount the Philippine International Visual Arts Festival 2010 (PIVAF), featuring the masterworks of renowned visual artists. The exhibit will also showcase the talents of the Filipino artists from different regions as well as make their works accessible to the public. Aside from the exhibit, seminar-workshops will also be conducted, and sand sculpture and body paintings sessions will also take place.

The PIVAF is one of the highlights of the Philippine International Arts Festival, a celebration of the National Arts Month this February 2010, spearheaded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), led by its Chairman Vilma Labrador and Executive Director Cecile Guidote Alvarez, through Ricardo de Ungria, Commissioner of the NCCA Sub-commission on the Arts (SCA).

The NCCA has been holding such events; a series of festivities and activities mounted throughout the country celebrating Filipino artistry and promoting the arts and the artists, for 19 years now, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 683 signed in 1991.

PIAF aims to feature the talents and performances of the many artists and arts groups in the seven arts on whose trainings, competitions, and creative expressions it has invested the past year or so. More than a way of looking back at past accomplishments, the festival will be a celebration of the fruits of the creative efforts for the past year and a looking forward to a richer, more fertile ground in the coming years for the evolution of artistic modes of expression available to the Filipino creative imagination.

All over the country, different arts and culture groups as well as local governments will hold events for the PIAF with funding and support from the NCCA with the theme “Ani ng Sining” or harvest of the arts.

At the forefront and the highlight of the PIAF are the major projects of the committees of the SCA, namely, Cinema, Dance, Literary Arts, Architecture and Allied Arts, Visual Arts, Music, and Dramatic Arts.

The PIVAF will be held from February 24 to 28, 2010, at the Shangri-la Plaza mall in Mandaluyong City, and at Boracay Island, Aklan in March.

For more details, contact Rene Napeñas, Head of the NCCA Public Affairs and Information Office and PIAF Media Director at 527-5529, 09285081057, 09275582656 or PIAF Deputy Festival Manager, Vanessa Marquez at 527-2209 or 09186380412. Email us at ncca.paio@gmail.com or visit our websites at www.ncca.gov.ph. and www.piaf-ncca.com

FORTUNA: IMPERATRIX MUNDI

FORTUNA IN ARTIS CORPUS

Artis Corpus Gallery presents its first group show in 2010 ushering the coincidentally auspicious Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day. Entitled FORTUNA: IMPERATRIX MUNDI, this exhibition of paintings based on the Major Arcana of the Tarot features Filipino artists interpreting the 22 cards in the context of contemporary Filipino themes. Artists featured are Arnica Acantilado, Honesto Guiruela III, Ronald Jeresano, Dominador Laroza, Rommel Ramota, Jeffrey Salon, and Julmard Vicente. The show opens 6pm on Saturday 13 February and runs sill 8 March 2010. Artis Corpus Gallery is located at 303 Haig Street, Bagong Silang, Mandaluyong City. Please call 7174619 or text 0920-9537426 for further details.

Fortune, Empress of the World,
I humbly lay down my Life
entirely at your precious feet.

This statement of acceptance of everything that befalls on any human being is the greatest act of surrender. It may sound like total abandon, but this is exactly what gratitude is all about. When the Self is at ease, it allows the forces of the Universe to act upon what needs to be effected on. When the Ego is laid to rest, then Nature is left to take its course.

In August 2008, a group of associates decided to put in resources to incorporate what is now known as Artis Corpus Gallery. Fifteen months and twenty exhibitions thereafter, awakening creeps in to remind everyone of the reality that surrounds everything. The visual art world is a microcosm of the society that it portrays. Times have changed and the phrase “Art for Art’s Sake” may appear not to have any relevance at the moment. Artificially induced demands, hypes, invented preferences, cartels, and a systematized art production process pre-programmed for investment marketing all at once characterize this once pure and absolutely noble arena of one’s culture. One must necessarily fit in to survive.

Meager resources and a stout heart for the arts definitely do not suffice to support a newborn art enterprise. Hints from supporters, both from the giving and the receiving ends, remained in the air, and Nature flushed out its excess water and submerged a personal collection intended to finance the production and promotion of new art. The Law of Cause and Effect may never be altered. Giving up means hibernating and reevaluating the givens versus what are desired.

Early in 2003, I had stretched and primed a set of twenty-two canvasses to be reserved wholly for a series of paintings based on the Major Arcana of the Tarot. The project never took flight as the artists chosen to paint the series took on different paths. I included took on an entrepreneurial path that eventually led to the establishment of a gallery. Another became a fashion designer, while the third decided on a fate entirely her own.

In late 2009, a group of seven artists wanting to do a meaningful show took on the role and divided the twenty-two canvasses among them. The Major Arcana simply served as their starting block. Interpretation was set loose as each artist was allowed to contemporize the concepts expressed in the middle ages in a place totally apart from the Orient, yet with the same amount of mystery, cloud, and occult.

I dedicate this exhibition to the turning of the wheel of fortune, as well as whatever consequences it brings forth to the lives of the whole of humanity.


ENRICO J. L. MANLAPAZ
President, Artis Corpus Gallery
Exhibition Curator, Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi

REMIX : SANTIAGO BOSE

Remix: Santiago Bose

Contemporary Visual Artists Create New Work from Bose’s Unfinished Canvas
More Than 30 Writers Present Their Take on Bose’s Rendering of Anting-Anting

The Yuchengco Museum and the Santiago Bose estate proudly present Remix: Santiago Bose, a postmodern retrospective of the late, internationally acclaimed Baguio visual artist and cultural provocateur Santiago Bose.

WHEN: The opening reception will be on February 11, 2010, Thursday, at the Yuchengco Museum at 6:30 p.m. The museum is at RCBC Plaza, corner Ayala and Sen. Gil J. Puyat Avenues, Makati City.

WHY: Visual artist Santiago Bose (1949 – 2002) created many memorable works in mixed media: he was a painter, performance artist, set designer, and installation artist who often used indigenous media in his work. He was also an educator, community organizer, and art theorist. His work communicated a strong sense of folk consciousness and religiosity, and the strength of indigenous cultures amidst the constant barrage of foreign influences. Bose's work in mixed media and assemblage is also a social commentary on the Philippine aesthetic.

Seven years after his unexpected death, his influence on contemporary Filipino art remains to be recognized. His contributions have been co-opted by modern artists who continue to create in the wake of Bose’s ideas, forms, and ideology across various media. His influence is evident in the works of Kawayan de Guia and Alwin Reamillo; Pat Hoffie, who collaborated with him; Jordan Mangosan and Perry Mamaril who apprenticed with him; John Frank Sabado and Leonard Aguinaldo who worked with him in the Baguio Arts Guild; and touches even artists who barely knew him, such as Filipino-American artists Mel Vera Cruz and Kwatro Kantos, who work in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Remix: Santiago Bose is an exhibit born out of the vestiges of Bose's legacy. The show explores his roots through his biography in self-portraits, and contextualizes his impact on Philippine art through modern takes—or remixes—of his research by more than 50 visual, literary, and multimedia artists.

1. Biography in Self-portraits. Santiago Bose's development as an artist is explored brilliantly by his own hand. Bose's self-image is concretized in a visual medium, with clues to his personality and thoughts executed in paint, color, and other mixed media. From his iconic self-portrait on a door at the age of 27 to one of his last paintings where he contemplates his mortality over a cemetery, Bose's role in Philippine art is reflected in his diverse collection of self-portraits, which also illustrate Bose’s remarkable artistic range and fluency in multimedia works.

2. Reinterpreting the Anting-Anting Collection. One of Bose’s last projects was a series of drawings of anting-anting—Filipino amulets or talismans—that he mounted on handmade paper and bound in a book. The drawings—59 in total—were culled from Bose's research in the 1990s. Bose realized the importance of anting-anting as someone who believed in them and as an artist. He used these amulets liberally in much of his work. He said: "Anting-anting [have undergone] a process of empowerment … These objects and symbols give people hope through difficulties. They are a material reflection of the Filipino people's collective psyche that have been used for centuries to protect them from cultural domination.”

3. Literary Remix. On display are works of poetry and prose by 30 internationally recognized writers, historians, and cultural purveyors, including Krip Yuson, Jessica Hagedorn, Imo Quibilan, Bino Realuyo, Luis Francia, Howie Severino, and John Silva. Each writer drew literary inspiration from Bose's anting-anting drawings, in effect bridging visual and literary art forms, while breaking cultural barriers using Bose’s drawings.

4. Multimedia Visual Remix. Also on view is a multimedia installation that features works by renowned artists influenced, mentored, inspired, and challenged by Bose—Alwyn Reamillo, Arnel Agawin, Mark Justiniani, Leonard Aguinaldo, Kawayan de Guia, Jordan Mangosan, Ged Alangui, and John Frank Sabado. The visual artists took the three anting-anting drawings and made completely new works that showcased their own artistic statement, producing at least three mixed-media renderings of new work.

The eight artists also collaborated on Bose’s version of Pablo Picasso's Guernica. Bose left the massive canvas—12x12 feet in size—unfinished when he died in 2002. In creating the mural, the artists went full circle and literally completed what Bose left behind.

Additionally, footage of Bose's art performances compiled by filmmaker Rica Concepcion will be screened throughout the exhibit.
Remix: Santiago Bose will run until March 31 at the Yuchengco Museum, which is located at RCBC Plaza, corner Ayala and Sen. Gil J. Puyat Avenues, Makati City. Museum hours are Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call 889-1234 or visit www.yuchengcomuseum.org.

IFISAYSOIFYOUTHINKSO | QUIESCENCE

DEITIES

thy kingdom come

you are cordially invited to
Mideo M Cruz’
DEITIES
cocktails on Saturday February 6, 2010 at 4pm
and will be on view until February 2010

Galleria Duemila
210 Loring Street, Pasay City Metro Manila Philippines
Telephone : (632) 831-9990 or (632)833-9815 Fax: (632) 833-9815
duemila@mydestiny. net www.galleriaduemila .com



Subdued Iconoclasm in Mideo Cruz's Deities

Philippine performance and installation artist Mideo Cruz has been distinguished for his provocative multi-disciplinary interventions straddling the irreverent, the blasphemous, and the subversive. While Cruz has raced through a range of discourses from colonialism, globalization and Third World realities while charting his journey, Deities, his latest one-man exhibition at the Galleria Duemila in Manila, seems to be the artist's move to step on the brakes a little bit, sit back and savor the view along the road.

Deities features Cruz's constructed collection of hybrid idols: found objects reproduced utilizing plaster of paris, concrete, and industrial paint. Rather than representing idols as mystical objects to be revered, Cruz deconstructs and offers them as homages to fallen gods and effigies of the sacred, steeped in modernity and profaned.

A thematic and formal shift in Cruz's artistic trajectory is evident in the show. Deities, for instance, presents more sculptural and permanent works—a fresh departure from the mostly transient and site-specific installation and performance pieces that comprised his earlier projects in the United States as a recipient of residencies and fellowships from the San Francisco-based Headlands Center for the Arts and the Asian Cultural Council, respectively.

Intentionally antiseptic, the sculpture-installations in this show forgo the multiplicity of complex structures, screaming symbols, and jarring colors that usually marked the flavor of Cruz's earlier body of works. Instead, the artist makes full use of minimalist lines, the muted textures of concrete, and stark white paint--a visual sensibility once put to full effect by Cruz in Banquet, a performance- installation on gluttony and bourgeois hegemony back in 2006 and revived in this collection.

The show is the artist's personal reflection on the development of deities between different civilizations. While Cruz's earlier body of works dealt with strong historically and socially-situated thematics on issues current and urgent to the point of volatility, this show seems like the artist's attempt to dwell on the less exigent aspects of contemporary gods. In constructing and representing modern-day idols, Cruz attempts to situate their symbolism in the visual traditions of earlier civilizations and draw out parallelisms and contradictions within their spheres of meaning. For instance, his representations of Mother and Child figures (a theme replete in Catholic iconography) also allude to symbols and shapes associated with earlier pre-Christian cultural traditions.

Yet for all their comparative mutedness, Cruz's works retain much of the frank spirit of iconoclasm that marked his earlier engagements. Liberally mixed in his pantheon of deities are popular icons spawned from this era of hegemonic globalization and watersheds in modes of production: the ubitquitous smiling head of a global food conglomerate’s mascot reproduced many times over, the stray figure of Dolly the cloned sheep, and other contemporary deities of mass consumerism. Despite the visual and stylistic departures from his usual repertoire, but, thematically, the show is a progression or continuation of the discourses that Cruz has consistently engaged and interrogated as a visual artist: the acts of confronting and questioning the gods of our times.

Deities runs from 6 February to 1 March, 2010 at the Galleria Duemila, Pasay City, Manila, Philippines.


image: “Trinity” Plaster of Paris, Concrete, Found objects and Industrial Paint. text: Lisa C. Ito

MEMOIRS

Xander Calceta
cordially invites you to the opening of the exhibition:
MEMOIRS
on Saturday, February 06, 2009, 3pm at

THE WHITE CUBE GALLERY
OF THE
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF MANILA

BANGKO SENTRAL COMPLEX,
ROXAS BOULEVARD, MANILA 1004
The exhibition runs from January 19 to February 19, 2010

Gallery hours from 9am to 5pm. Mondays through Saturdays.

For more information, contact us at 09272114646 / 025831053 or visit us at http://www.xandercalceta.com

HUBÓ

HUBÓ
A Post Sinulog Exhibit

January 22 to February 14, 2010
SHP Garage-Alternative Contemporary Art Studio
Sacred Heart Parish, Jakosalem St., Cebu City

Celso Pepito
Tito Cuevas
Ritchie Quijano
Jason Dy, SJ
Antonio Vidal
Cesar Castillo
John Dinglas
Karen Pepito
Bobby Gonzales
Alnoe Paler
Mike Jo
Anric Boholst

[hubó] to ritually undress the Sto. Niño with his royal garment,
stripping him of his crown, orb, scepter, armlet, bands, cape, tunic and inner garments,
washing its naked body with perfumed water,
and dressing him with less ornate apparel.

In the same spirit, HUBÓ, a post Sinulog exhibit,
undresses the event of its pomp, grandiosity and festivities
through visual documentation using photographs, paintings, assemblage,
drawings, newspaper clippings, sculptures and site specific installations
for both tourists and devotees to reclaim the childlike sense of awe, wonder and reverence
of the stark nakedness of the faith in the Messiah-Child
who holds the world with his crown of wisdom and scepter of compassion.
Hoping that this encounter will wash them pure
with the perfumed water of majesty and mystery.

SAVING THE LAND

ASIAN CULTURAL COUNCIL AUCTION

The Asian Cultural Council Philippines is a foundation that supports cultural exchange in the visual and performing arts between the United States and the countries in Asia. In partnership with the Asian Cultural Council, headquartered in New York, a Philippine Fellowship Program was established in 2000 to raise funds and offer more opportunities for artists, scholars, and cultural workers to undertake study, research, observation, and creative work in the United States or within Asia.

In partnership with the ACC in New York a Philippine Fellowship Program was established in 2000 to raise funds and offer more opportunities for artists, scholars, and cultural workers to undertake study, research, observation, and creative work in the United States or within Asia. featured artists: Ivan Acuna, Leonardo Aguinaldo, Joel Ajero, Gus Albor, Nunelcio Alvarado, Poklong Anading, Angelito Antonio, Julio Austria, Alfredo Aquilzan, Michael Bacol, Grandier Bella, Norma Belleza, Plet Bolipata, Elmer Borlongan, Nana Buxani, Ben Cabrera, Froilan Calayag, Jonathan Ching, Mariano Ching, Florence Cinco, Lena Cobangbang, Joey Cobcobo, Marika Constantino, Ninel Constantino, Melvin Culaba, Jon Cuyson, Aba Lluch Dalena, Thomas Dacquioag, Don Djerassi Dalmacio, Kawayan De Guia, Camille De La Rosa, Anton Julius Del Castillo, Ranelle Dial, Ramon Diaz, Ferdinand Doctolero, Norman Dreo, Fernando Escora, Noel El Farol, Patricia Eustaquio, Karen Flores, Romulo Galicano, Lyra Garcellano, Pedro Felix Garcia, Zaldy Garra, Kris Jan Gavino, Sandra Gfeller, Dennis Gonzales, Abdul Imao, Ronald Jeresano, Jose Joya, Irma Lacorte, Lao Lianben, Rajo Laurel, Erwin Leano, Tony Leano, Lindsey James Lee, Romeo Lee, Stephanie Lopez, Isa Lorenzo, Arturo Luz, Joven Mansit, John Marin, Norlie Meimban, Cesar Montano, Wawi Navarroza, Jan Leeroy New, Jim Orencio, Neal Oshima, Leon Pacunayen, Kat Palasi, Anthony Palomo, Noel Pama, Anthony Panugao, Averil Paras, Mario Parial, Mikel Parial, Samuel Penaso, Jucar Raquepo, Elmer Roslin, Don Salubayba, Jerson Samson, Jaypee Samson, Popo San Pascual, John Santos, Tammy Tan, Wire Tuazon, Wig Tysman, Trek Valdizno, Mark Valenzuela, Anna Varona, Roy Veneracion, Cris Villanueva, Francisco Villanueva, Alvin Villaruel, Betsy Westendorp, MM Yu, Reggie Yuson, Phyllis Zaballero, Oscar Zalameda

VERDE AMOR

ANI NG SINING 2101 OPENS

On its 19th year, the Philippine International Arts festival (PIAF) in celebration of National Arts Month (NAM) as per Presidential Proclamation No. 683 of 1991 kicks off with simple but still festive rites at the Rajah Sulayman Plaza in Malate, Manila on January 31, 2010.

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) led by Chairman Vilma L. Labrador and Executive Director Cecile Guidote-Alvarez holds twin celebrations after the country was named as the cultural capital of the 10-member ASEAN for the years 2010 and 2011.

The much-anticipated opening “involves various artistic activities that focus on arts education and its relevance in building community spirit and pride,” according to the festival secretariat. “It also showcases the best artistic works and their contribution to the Philippine creative consciousness.”

PIAF provides a venue for artists, veteran or newbie, to celebrate their works and interact with one another. The seven flagship programs with the seven subcommittee on the arts presents their own program of activities that will travel all over the country.

This year, the Committee on Dramatic Arts is in charge of the event as a whole.

As early as 8 a.m. on Jan. 30, 2010, art booths of the several art disciplines open at the Clamshell area inside Intramuros (just a few blocks away from the NCCA office in Gen. Luna St.) These booths are expected to hold art sessions.

The colorful parade marches at 3 p.m. Starting point is at the NCCA building and goes all the way to the Rajah Sulayman park where the program begins.

Capping off the opening rites is a two-hour concert that features performances by committee members from dance, film, music, theater, and literature and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra.

Fireworks display signals the official opening of the month-long, nationwide festival.

Should you need more details or have any concerns, please contact Mr. Rene Napeñas, PIAF Media Director and Head of the NCCA-Public Affairs and Information Office (PAIO) at 09285081057/ 09275582656 and 527-5529, or Ms. Vanessa Marquez, PIAF Deputy Festival Manager, at 527-2209 or 09186380412. You could also call us at 527-2192 loc. 612-615 or email us at ncca.paio@gmail.com.

TOP SHOT

About the exhibition:
Filipino artist Daniel Coquilla is most inspired when chronicling culture from the top, as if overseeing events and nuances as they happen. Top Shot captures such details, showing the deep influence of Chinese settlers on Philippine shores. While the Chinese New Year is not officially marked as a holiday in the country, the Filipino-Chinese community carries on the tradition of holding dragon dances to attract good luck. Coquilla, a video editor at the National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development of the University of the Philippines, paints these scenes in great detail, letting the viewer in on as many highlights and sidelights in the composition. There are food stalls selling noodles (pancit) and bean-filled pastry (hopia) which people would travel all the way to Chinatown for, and also a glimpse of dragon boat races. Then Coquilla mixes it up with other Filipino traditions, including celebrations and parties held to welcome the Western New Year. The top view perspective allows viewers to see the larger picture, showing joy in people's faces on one hand, and longing on the other.

About the artist:
Daniel “Dansoy” Coquilla (born 1970, Panabo City, Davao del Norte) majored in painting at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Fine Arts, where he also received the UP Gawad Chanselor para sa Sining Biswal in 1998. He garnered two Juror’s Choice awards in the 1997 Philip Morris Philippine and ASEAN Art Awards, and has also been Grand Prize and Juror’s Choice winner in AAP Competitions, as well as a finalist in the Metrobank and Shell National Painting Competitions. He was likewise a Philippine Finalist to the Windsor & Newton World-Wide Millenium Painting Competition. In 2006, he was made a Thirteen Artists Awardee by the Cultural Centre of the Philippines. Top Shot is his eighteenth solo exhibition and second in Singapore.