RAYS ON THE SHUTTER

RAYS ON THE SHUTTER
Maria Cruz, Elizabeth Newman and Gerardo Tan
July 2-30, 2011

Galleria Duemila is pleased to announce an exhibition of works with painters Maria Cruz, Elizabeth Newman and Gerardo Tan entitled, rays on the shutter. This exhibition presents the work of three conceptual painters: Maria Cruz (Berlin), Elizabeth Newman (Melbourne) and Gerardo Tan (Manila), whose practices resonates the underground aesthetic currents of the cities they represent and challenges the fundamental discourses on painting today.

The artists’ individual strategies in the realm of conceptual art and institutional critique, dismantles modernity, structuralist philosophy and contemporary criticism. Each work is an emphasis of the inter-determination and contingency of social and historical phenomena with the cultural values and biases of perspective.

rays on the shutter is an exhibition which provides a glimpse to their individual empowered practice, the materiality of painting, its relevance and existential possibilities.

Maria Cruz’s dialectic approach to her intuitive process in painting includes deduction, excess, erasure or a generative system of flagrant simplicity in her painting process. Her past works include the obliteration of the face value of currency and its levitating social implications. Her current body of work “The Letter X in Color Wheels” is an embodiment of the same gestural process and layering with reference to the letter “X” as an idea of mystique or an unknown factor in the everyday.

Elizabeth Newman’s work has been known in Melbourne for pushing the boundaries of the materiality and space involved in her painting process. Newman uses domestic objects as iconic representations in her work; an act which is both idiosyncratic and monumental in representing an empowered subjective condition.

Gerardo Tan conducts a simulacrum of collage-based paintings, and deconstructs images taken from idealized representations in western art news taken from textbooks, old paintings or magazine clippings. Tan uses photography, painting, digital print, collage and silkscreen to re-frame images from his immediate memory in creating layer upon layer of information and associations. Albeit abstract, the fragments are not completely independent of each other and upon further investigation you’ll notice developed procedures in each painting process thereby creating inner dynamism, entirely different from that of its supposed model, presenting itself as the final cause.

rays on the shutter runs from July 2-30 2011 at Galleria Duemila, 210 Loring Street, Pasay City, Philippines. For inquiries, please call Ms. Thess Ponce at Tel. No. 831-9990 or Telefax (02) 833-9815, Email: gduemila@gmail.com Website: www.galleriaduemila.com

MAN AND THE SEA

Man and the Sea: Wahoo Guerrero
02 July – 14 August 2011
Upstairs Gallery

Manila Contemporary is pleased to present a solo exhibition by established photographer Wahoo Guerrero. Well known for his work in Fashion Photography, Guerrero is a multi-disciplinary creative practitioner working across painting and fine art photography with a variety of interests that shape and shift his practice. His extensive travels and time spent abroad in Spain has provided Guerrero with an acute sense of detail, color, texture and light that embodies his emotive and sensitively realized photographs.

Man and the Sea is Guerrero’s latest body of work that centers around the fishing villages Matuod and Reina in the coastal areas of Batangas. Creating an impressionistic portrait of peoples and landscape, Guerrero presents tableaus from daily life and natural beauty as well as the subtle complexities of coastal communities who live and work on the land and seas. Through a sophisticated understanding of the medium of photography Guerrero contributes an elegant glimpse into provincial identity as well as the powerful relationship between Man and the environment.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Wahoo Guerrero (b. 1947) studied Painting at the Escuela de Bellas Artes San Jordi in Barcelona. He first ventured into photography during his stay in Spain, where he specialized in documenting the art and architecture of the country. Aside from painting and photography, Guerrero is also a movie producer and publisher. His works have been displayed at the Sining Kamalig Gallery, featuring women from Ilocos, at
the Inter-continental Hotel, featuring women and fashion and at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, featuring his paintings. In 2010, Wahoo exhibited works on the temples and ruins of Cambodia.

ASYMMETRY

DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF AN ARTIST?

Read full article here.

THE COLOR BRINGER

Sunday, June 26 at 6:00pm – July 19 at 10:00pm
Secret Fresh Gallery, RONAC Art Center
Ortigas Avenue, nr. Santolan intersection
Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila

MUKHANG PERA

HISTORY COMES ALIVE! REOPENS WITH ‘MUKHANG PERA!’

Following up on last year’s highly successful run, the History Comes Alive! with Dr. Ambeth Ocampo lecture series opens with “Mukhang Pera! Banknotes and Nation” on 25 June, 3 PM at the Ayala Museum lobby.

“Banknotes are so common, we see and use them daily, but we rarely notice the pictures and text that are on them,” Prof. Ocampo explains. His upcoming lecture will answer why particular individuals are chosen (and, just as interestingly, not chosen) to have their busts printed on money. “Mukhang Pera” also explores how banknotes refer to Philippine history, re-present the nation and express identity.

“After this lecture,” Dr. Ocampo adds, “you will never look at money the same way again.”

Ambeth R. Ocampo is Chairman of the Department of History, Ateneo de Manila University and is a widely read columnist. He served as Chairman at the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (2002-2011) and concurrently Chairman at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (2005-2007).

Tickets are inclusive of lecture and museum admission fee, as well as a free book by Dr. Ocampo. For inquiries and reservations, call 757-7117 to 21 local 35 or email education@ayalamuseum.org.

Ayala Museum, the country’s premiere museum of fine art and history and cultural destination, is located at Makati Avenue corner De la Rosa Street, Greenbelt Park, Makati City. For more information on this year’s History Comes Alive! line up of lectures, visit www.ayalamuseum.org.

MONOCHROME

WHY DO PEOPLE BUY ART. . . FROM YOU?

Read full article here.

“YOU’LL NEVER MAKE A LIVING AS AN ARTIST”

Read full article here.

ALINGASNGAS SA PUNTOD NG DI-KILALANG BAYANI

ALINGASNGAS SA PUNTOD NG DI-KILALANG BAYANI

I.

Kay huna ng pag-iisip ng tao.
Singrupok din ng nangabaling sangang
lumutong na sa pagkakatuyo.

Dagli na nilang nalimutan ang kahapon
na nagluwal sa aming di-mabilang
na mandirigma ng ating panahon.

Ang simulain, ang adhikain,
agad na bang naglaho ito at
nagsa-Hudas kayo sa iilang pirasong laya?

Ako ang nagtatag ng lapian.
Wangis ng inang nagbuntis ng sanggol
na hahalili sa isang lumang lipunan.

Sila, ang mga kasamahan kong
nagtatanggol ng mga karapatan mo’t
nakikibaka sa kalayaan ng lipunang Pilipino.

Kami, yaong hindi inalintana
ang makalasap ng panunupil at dahas
sa pag-aangat ng antas ng pakikibaka.

Hanggang sa mapiit yaong nakikibaka,
hanggang ang lapian at ako’y
ninakawan nila ng hininga.

II.

Ngunit ano’t sa bitag ng lawin
ay dinuhapang ninyo ang pain
at nabulag ang inyong paningin.

Narito kayo at nagsasapagbunyi
sa pag-aakaiang nakalaya na kayo
at nakaahon na sa pagkagupiling.

A, nalimot nyo na nga ang layunin,
ang paghihimagsik laban sa pagkagupili’y
pag—aaklas sa kuko ng lawin.

Hindi nga ba’t ito ang adhikaing
Ipinamulat sa madla at pinagsugalan
Ng buhay ng napakaraming alipin?

A, Pasista, kaiingat sila.
Pagka’t nagsilang na ng uhay ang butong
ipinunla ng bayaning di-kilala.

Kapag namula na ang silangan
bukas, ay isisilang na rin
ang binhi ng tunay na kalayaan

Wala mang buhay ang lapian,
ay patuloy na iigting ang kamao
ng mga mandirigmang makabayan.

Joseph Crisanto Martinez
Samahan ng mga Manunulat ng Pamantasan ng Silangan
(SAMAPASIL)

unang inilathala noong ika- 15 ng Agosto, 1986 sa
DAWN
ang opisyal na pahayagan ng mga mag-aaral ng
Pamantasan ng Silangan

RELEVANT RIZAL

ART IN HOUSE AT THE PICASSO PRESENTS CONTEMPORARY CEBUANO ART

Five exhibitions—Anatomical Trajectories, Displacement, Lead Lightning, Teeth of the Mouth, The Queen’s Resurrection—open at the The Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences on June 18, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. The contemporary regional art exhibition features the artworks of renowned abstract expressionists Tito Cuevas, Karl Roque, Sio Montera, and Vidal Alcoseba, Jr.; sculptor Ritchie Quijano; and graffiti artist Kidlat of The Junks Collective, performance artist Russ Ligtas, social realist Marvin Chito L. Natural, and surrealist Palmy Pe-Tudtud.

Anatomical Trajectories by Palmy Pe-Tudtud showcases recent pieces that reflect a personal narrative using a scientifically surreal streak. Displacement is composed of works by Marvin Chito L. Natural who creates a commentary on Cebu society. Lead Lightning features Kidlat of The Junks Collective, resonating their strong vandalistic force in the heart of a different city. Teeth of the Mouth, the fourth show, consists of video performances of butoh artist Russ Ligtas. The last show, The Queen’s Resurrection, is a collection of highlights from the artistic careers of Tito Cuevas, Karl Roque, Sio Montera, Ritchie Quijano, and Vidal Alcoseba Jr., present-day Cebuano artists who dominate the local art scene.

Curated by JV Castro, the five exhibitions highlighting Contemporary Cebu runs from June 19, 2011 to August 14, 2011 at The Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences, 119 L.P. Leviste Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City. The exhibition is co-presented by Alternative Contemporary Art Studio, Casa Gorordo Museum, Gothong Southern Lines, Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., M. Lhuillier Financial Services, Inc. and Brasserie Boheme.

ATENEO ART AWARDS 2011 SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

June 10, 2011
ATENEO ART AWARDS 2011 SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

The Ateneo Art Gallery, widely recognized as the country's first modern art museum, is pleased to announce the 12 artists short-listed for the Ateneo Art Awards 2011: Anatomy of Autonomy. They are:

Renato Barja Jr. for The Jungle and the Rain
Solo Exhibition, Blanc Compound
15 January - 5 February 2011

Frank Callaghan for River of Our Dreams
Solo Exhibition, Manila Contemporary
2 - 24 October 2010

Olivia d'Aboville New Frontiers: Olivia d'Aboville Chasm of Fantasies
Solo Exhibition, Ayala Museum
15 July - 12 September 2010

Kawayan de Guia for Bomba
Solo Exhibition, Jorge Vargas Museum
15 June - 18 December 2010

Bembol dela Cruz for House Blends
Solo Exhibition, Blanc Compound
9 - 30 April 2011

Nona Garcia for Fractures
Solo Exhibition, West Gallery
27 July - 14 August 2010

Sam Kiyomarsi for Inalienable Dreamless
Solo Exhibition, Lost Projects
16 March - 20 April 2011

Tatong Recheta Torres for Make My Day!
Solo Exhibition, Yarn Factory Art Projects, Tochigi Japan (Second Life SIM)
21 June 2010 onwards

Maria Taniguchi for Echo Studies
Solo Exhibition, Jorge Vargas Museum
30 March to 28 May 2011

Rodel Tapaya for Simple Depictions
Group Exhibition, Alliance Francaise de Manille Total Gallery
25 November - 16 December 2010

MM Yu for Waste Not Want Not
Solo Exhibition, Finale Video Room, Finale Art File
7 - 30 May 2010

Maria Jeona Zoleta for Sure Sure, Happy Happy, Picture Picture
Solo Exhibition, 20 Square (SLab)
7 - 31 July 2010

Established in 2004 to honor the memory of its founding benefactor Fernando Zóbel de Ayala (1924-1984), whose support of young Filipino visual artists left an indelible mark in Philippine art history, the Ateneo Art Awards are given to Filipino visual artists below the age of 36 for outstanding works in an exhibition between 2 May 2010 and 1 May 2011.

On its eighth year, the Ateneo Art Awards takes the theme "Anatomy of Autonomy," dissecting and surveying artistic thought in the contemporary Philippine art scene. Unbound by any cultural, social, academic or even aesthetic dogma, the creative spirit of young Filipino visual artists is duly recognized.

From the 12 shortlisted exhibitions/artworks, 3 are chosen as winners. The winning artists are then invited to apply for international residency grants funded by the Ateneo Art Gallery and its partner institutions: Common Room Networks Foundation in Bandung, Indonesia, La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre in Bendigo, Australia, Artesan Gallery in Singapore, Art Omi in New York, USA and Liverpool Hope University in Liverpool, United Kingdom.

The Ateneo Art Awards are presented by the Ateneo Art Gallery, Shangri-la Plaza, SMART, Metro Society, Y-style of the Philippine Star, and the New York Art Project, funded by Marcel Crespo.

The works of the short-listed artists will be exhibited at the Grand Atrium of the Shangri-la Plaza, Edsa corner Shaw Boulevard from 5-15 August 2011 and at the Ateneo Art Gallery, Level 2 Rizal Library Special Collections Building, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City from 20 August – 10 September 2011. The winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on 11 August 2010, 6pm at the Grand Atrium of the Shangri-La Plaza. For more information, please contact Ian Jaucian, Ateneo Art Awards Project Coordinator, at 426-6488 or email ijaucian@ateneo.edu.

CCP EXHIBITS FOR RIZAL’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Jeresano, Pacena et al, and PSP: June 2011 at the CCP

Young talents converge at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on June 17 to coincide with the CCP’s celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Jose P. Rizal. The CCP has chosen to observe the day by honoring deserving young leaders who epitomize the National Hero’s dedication and idealism. Likewise, CCP’s exhibit venues will be just as devoted to the musings and assertions of some of the most dynamic young visual artists today.

Prize-winning artist Ronald Jeresano presents his first solo exhibition “MANHID” at the Pasilyo Guillermo Tolentino (Third Floor Hallway). The exhibit marks an important passage for Jeresano, notwithstanding the recognitions he has received. “Manhid” collects the artist’s detailed figuration in paintings that counter the grounded certainty of the pose with the fleeting ethereality of the bubble; thus shaping the threshold of what constitutes numbness, or else a suspension of feeling or emotion. One such work pays tribute to Rizal as a figure of fragile hope in a child’s future.

Most notable among Jeresano’s awards was to twice garner the Grand Prize of the ArtPetron on 2008 and 2007. He was also Grand Prize winner for painting in the 2008 Metrobank Art and Design Competition. “Manhid” is presented in cooperation with Nineveh Art Space. The exhibit is on view until August 21, 2011.

At the Bulwagang Juna Luna (Main Gallery), J Pacena II has curated “KULÔ,” an exhibit gathering artists who were invited to reflect on Jose Rizal’s complexity as educator, ideologue and revolutionary. The exhibit is also meant as a fringe extension of the celebration of 400 years of the University of Santo Tomas, featuring artists who as Thomasians, relive scenarios of the toss-up between submission and rebellion; indeed, a boiling amalgam of raging heat that also serves to cleanse or make things clear. The exhibit will go on till August 21, 2011.

J Pacena II is a recent fellow of the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youth (JENESYS) Programme for Creators. Pacena was chosen through the curatorial development workshop organized by the UP Vargas Museum and Archives and the Japan Foundation in 2009. Joining him as co-curator is Jocelyn Tullao-Calubayan, a UST Fine Arts professor who has worked with the university’s museum and publishing house.

Painted directly on the wall of the Pasilyo Fernando Amorsolo (Second Floor Hallway) is a mural by the Pilipinas Street Plan (PSP), a group of graffiti artists who have worked their way from the streets, to museums, and to expositions around the world. Contributing to this ephemeral tribute to Rizal and the youth are artists Boy Agimat, Epjey, Egg, Exld, Whoop, Kookoo, Tawnie, Nemo, Ver, Tripp, Ungga, Wesndestroy and Jood.

All exhibits are scheduled to launch starting at 3:00pm on June 17 at their respective venues. The openings will be part of the program preceding the CCP’s program “JP: Ang Gig ni Rizal” to be performed at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater) starting at 4:00pm.

For particulars about the exhibits call CCP Visual Arts and Museo at Tels. 832-3702 and 832-1125 locals 1504+1505 from Tuesdays to Fridays 9:00am-6:00pm. Museum hours are at 10:00am-6:00pm daily except Mondays and holidays.

FOUR FOLDS

This exhibition is composed of works with unique and diverse media. Each artist utilized their own techniques to exemplify their knowledge of the Cordillera culture to provide a multitude of perspectives and ways of exploring the Cordillera culture, resulting to the awareness of the greater Filipino community. The use of different media is plays a significant role not only in staging and presenting the culture alone, but also in addressing the cultural, environmental, religious, and social-political issues in the Cordillera community.

Baguio based artists Leonardo Aguinaldo, Edwin Macadaeg, Jordan Mang-osan and John Frank Sabado present works representative of Cordillera culture in their new show “Four Folds”. Their works of various media brings to the audience the different facets of the Cordillera culture with respect to its socio-political situation, environmental issues and shamanic/spiritual beliefs. The exhibit runs from 17 June to 8 July 2011 at NOVA Gallery, Warehouse 12A, La Fuerza Compound, 2241 Don Chino Roces Ave., Makati City. For more information call 392-7797 or send an electronic mail to gallerynova@gmail.com or visit www.novagallerymanila.com

MYTHS ABOUT PASSION AND YOUR ART CAREER

Read full article here.

QUICKSAND

Christopher Zamora: Quicksand
Republikha Art Gallery
15 June 2011

A tool ceases to be one the moment it morphs into a lifestyle. It begins to have an essence of its own. It breathes. It thinks. And then it consumes.

Christopher Zamora reveals the unquestioned dominance of technology over our collective psyche in his upcoming solo show "Quicksand" opening at Republikha Gallery, on Wednesday, June 15 at 6 pm. His canvas transcends a subculture conceived by an illusory will to connect and be part of something bigger than the individual. Zamora's art exposes the self-defeating dependence on "having," as a product of diminishing one's "being."

Zamora's work delves into the minds of the very real and living people simply called by technology pimps as "target demographics." Raw emotions that were once channeled through actual interaction with more raw emotions are filtered by the entanglements of fiber optic lines, wireless networks, and the evolving boob tube. Reality is continually modified and re-modified with the introduction of the eternal concept of "upgrades," further enslaving the fragility of the youth's need for self-determination. What is left is a landscape of blurred purposes – a barren dessert of plastic, microchips, lenses, shiny discs, keyboards, touch screens, and the organic ether of a lost generation's dreams.

A silent paradox is the ultimate portrait of this artist's theme. Aired are contradictions between the claimed benefits of "making the globe smaller" and the actual fruits of depriving a generation or more of the reality that is not virtual. This unreal reality is then reinforced by the willingness of indolent minds to not discern between purpose and consequences. And as the machine enslaves the acquiescing consciousness, a self-sustaining cycle of blind adherence prevails.

Zamora has carved his name in contemporary art through his solo exhibits including Sorrowful Mysteries (Project Space Pilipinas) and Infectious (West Gallery) in 2009, Silip (Boston Gallery) in 2005 and Everybody Wants to Feel Better (Kulay Diwa Art Galleries) in 2003.

He has also participated in numerous notable exhibitions here and abroad including We Was There (Yuchengco Museum, Manila) 2011, Yeosu International Art Festival (Yeosu City, Korea), Art Triangle (Soka Gakkai, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Reflections (Bupyeong Art Center, Incheon, Korea), Studio Parade (Incheon Art Platform, Incheon, Korea), Media Concert 'Love' (Topohous Art Gallery, Seoul) in 2010, Tenggara: Recent Paintings from Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines (Novas Gallery, London), Plastic Syndrome (Art Space Plastic, Incheon, Korea) in 2009, 2nd Hand Smoke (Cultural Center of the Philippines) in 2006, Buklod (Kulay Diwa Art Galleries, Manila) in 2003, and EMO (Boston Gallery, Manila) in 2001. His works had been part of an ensemble of art pieces presented in Art Beijing in 2008 and Daegu Art Fair in 2010. Zamora was artist-in-residence at Project Space Pilipinas in 2008, Neo-Emerging Artist Residency (NEAR Seoul) in 2009, International Artist Studio Program, IASK Goyang National Art Studio, Korea in 2010. He is currently taking part in the Southeast Asian Art Group Exchange Residency (SAAGER), an exchange residency among artists from Kuala Lumpur, Yogjakarta, and Manila.

SAKRIPISIO

Cebu-based abstractionist Dennis “Sio” Montera, confronts his fears as part of the process in evoking a total experience in achieving a rejuvenated aesthetic harmony through his current series and exhibition titled SakripiSIO. The artist’s works constantly focus on his ability to use biographical and deeply personal experiences as source material for his remarkably consistent—abstracts.

In this new collection, Montera focuses on the uniquely Filipino understanding of sacrifice as both an interpretative process, as well as a total concept that connects the individual, society, and material existence together into a logical and absolute experience.

The artist takes into account his recent struggles to balance social responsibility and personal fulfilment, anger and pain through the degree of gestural expression in most of the works while the other pieces signify the beginning of acceptance and the willingness to move on, suggesting the path towards enlightenment. Sio Montera SakrispiSIO will show us why there is a need to defy the inevitability of death, betrayal, and destruction, and how to assess the remaining time that we have.

The artist is currently the Vice-Head of the Committee on Visual Arts of the NCCA and a member of the UP-Cebu Fine Arts faculty. He received the grand prize in the abstract category of the 2010 GSIS Painting Competition. The exhibit opens at the Art Center of SM Megamall on June 17, 2011 and is part of Renaissance Gallery’s eigth anniversary presentation. For deatails, contact 632-6373101.

WHY ‘MAYBE’ CREATES UNPRODUCTIVE ARTISTS

Read full article here.

ISANG PAGLILIMI SA MULING PAGDIRIWANG NG ARAW NG KALAYAAN

ANG BUHAY, ANG KATOTOHANAN, ANG DAAN
(o Paalam Sa Kawalang-Malay)



Ito ang Buhay. . .

patuloy ka sa pagwiwilig ng asin
o kaya’y paghahanap sa ipa ng maisasaing.
walang puknat ang pag-imbay mo ng maso,
halos ayaw mo ng bitbitin ang araro.

walang suko ang nagsakuba mong katawan,
walang humpay ang nagsa-makinang katawan,
upang pagkatapos ay matatagpuan lamang
pagkaraan ng aniha’y walang laman ang kaban,
pagkagaling sa pagawaa’y walang mailagay sa tiyan.

ngunit kapag sumipol na ang silangan,
muli kang paaalipin sa nilinang,
muli kang hahatakin ng pagawaan.
kaladkad kang muli ng iyong araro,
tangan mong muli ang iyong maso.
magdidilig kang muli ng pawis,
magbabatak kang muli ng buto.
upang pagsapit muli ng anihan,
pagsahod mong muli sa pagawaan
ay matatagpuan mong di man lang nasulit
ang tagaktak ng iyong pawis,
ang lagutok ng iyong mga buto.



Ito ang Katotohanan. . .

Munihin mo’t nilay-nilaying pilit:
saan mang sulok niyaring bayan mo’y
higit na nakararami yaong minamaliit.

ang paghihikahos ng dantaon,
ang pasang-krus ay di itinakda o sumpa
o hatol ng tadhana o panahon.

maghihikahos ba yaong nagsisikap
at nagsisikap makaahon sa paghihikahos?

ano nga ba’t nagpatulo ka ng pawis
ay pawis pa rin ang iyong kakanin.

ang dapat mabatid na pilit inilihim:
kailanma’y di ka sasala sa pagkain
kung batid mong dantaon ka ng alipin.

ang kasalatan mo ay karangyaan ng iilan,
iilang nagtataglay ng labis na kapangyarihan,
kapangyarihang dinuhagi sa sambayanan,
sambayanang pilit ikinulob sa kamangmangan,
upang ang susi ng kabang-yaman ay mapasaiilan lamang,
iilang nagtataglay ng labis ng kapangyarihan.

kung batid mong kakambal ka ng araro
o lumaki ka sa paghambalos ng maso,
di nga ba’t nasasaiyo ang karapatang
magtaglay ng susi ng kabangyaman?



Ito ang Daan. . .

Langkay-langkay kayong alipin ng lupa.
angaw-angaw kayong martir sa paggawa.

hindi ba’t nais ninyo rin naming lumaya?
magbabangon sa pagkagupiling at dusa?

makakakilos pa ba yaong said na ang hininga?

may higit na lalakas pa ba sa pagkakaisa?

ang bilang ninyo’y sindami ng lilik.
simbilang din ng tabak, maso at karet.
kapag nagbuklod ay isang matibay na sandata
na kayang lasugin ang moog ng mga pita.

simulan mo sa karet ang paghawi sa talahib.
hawanan mo ng tabak ang anumang balakid.
gamitin mo ang maso sa pagpatag ng daan:
daang tungo sa maaliwalas ng bukas,
daang babagtas sa kalayaan. . .

Joseph Crisanto Martinez

unang inilathala sa noong ika- sa
DAWN
ang opisyal na pahayagan ng
Pamantasan ng Silangan

SHOULD CREATIVITY BE EXHAUSTING?

Read full article here.

RAFAEL PADERNA

ARE CREATIVE PEOPLE MORE APT TO BE ADDICTS?

Read full article here.

CONFIGURATION

July 8-24
Galerie Anna
Artwalk SM Megamall

10 Participating Artists:
Benjie Cabangis
Noell EL Farol
Fitz Herrera
Rico Lascano
Poch Naval
Jonathan Olazo
Resty Tica
Yasmin Almonte
Mervy Pueblo
Jemina Reyes

Approximating components of equivalence and decidability form a central role in the language of abstraction, ‘Configurations’ operates in mapping fixpoints attributes that exploit the ideas of composed, refined, compressed and decomposed. Led by stalwart in Philippine abstractions, Benjie Cabangis and other contemporary artists like Jonathan Olazo, a consistent award winning painter-printmaker, their works gives new hints and leads to different notions of domains that abstractions does, strongly normalizing parametric relationship in search for corresponding notions of equivalence as part of their definitions and reasoning.

Joining are works by noted and respected young contemporary artists, the bold abstractions by Fitz Herrera and Resty Tica. Herrera's works play on rigidity as well as fluidity - rebellious lines that contain, and solid colors that rub off into nebulous wholes while Tica merges the veritable signifier of abstraction and graphic starkness of design. While Rico Lascano and Poch Naval’s minimalist's works operate in configured components of abstractions complements the equivalence of the concept of the show. Sculptor Noell EL Farol works in slab form features the act of making as a process of decay eliciting a 'contemporary' archaeology.

Complementing the show are works by female contemporary abstract painters, Yasmin Almonte, Mervy Pueblo and Jemina Reyes.

Yasmin Almonte continue to employ wide range of painterly techniques to create a field of suction, complements her manipulation of visual cognition within her paintings. Working towards sublime fields of painterly abstraction, rendered with alternate areas of thick impasto while wielding artistic process as a mode of investigation is seen from the works of sculptor-Painter Mervy Pueblo. While Reyes' paintings possess an imposing elegance, densely translucent layers and visceral distance.

EARTH

EARTH
Augusto Albor
Earth
7 - 30 June 2011

Elemental and primordial

For Gus Albor, abstraction can convey the nuanced passage of time and space; movements imprinted on the physical surface of the planet. These qualities of natural forms are compellingly captured in Earth, an exhibit of recent works in acrylic on canvas at Mag:net Katipunan.

The paintings in "Earth", all recent works, are quiet testaments to the elemental and primordial forms in nature: the stillness and flux of tides below the rasing seas; the shadows of the earth's recesses; the movement of masses, unbound. Albor's abstraction intentionally steps back from being deliberately expressionist and gestural, from exposing the hand of humans as creators (and destroyers) of civilizations. Rather, his forms evoke the silent passage of eras beyond human lifetimes, interventions and scales, "standing firm in praise of time and space," as the artist terms it.

In this time when the earth is warming at an unprecedented rate, of terrifying rage spewing from the bowels of the land and seas, Albor's art has the capacity to instill in one a wonder for the world beyond the gallery. It, if only for a few frames, positions our realities within the perspective of the earth we inhabit: the movement of the continents that continues beyond our lifetimes, the infinite sadness of oceans older than memory. As the title of one of his paintings seems to point out, the passage of time and of the elements may signal the end of the word and of civilization as we know it, but not the end of the world which embraces us all.

About the artist. One of the country's esteemed abstractionists, Gus Albor's art practice spans nearly four decades. His formal art studies were pursued at the University of the East and the West Surrey College of Art in England. Albor was cited in Thirteen Artists Awards from the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1976 and the Art Association of the Philippines (First Place) in 1977. His works have since then been shown in exhibitions throughout Manila and in other countries, such as Hong Kong, India, Germany, France, and the United States.

"Earth" by Gus Albor runs from June 7 to 30, 2011 at Mag:net Gallery, located at 335 Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City 1105. For inquiries, contact the gallery at 929.3191 or magnetgalleries@gmail.com.

Image:
Augusto Albor
Below sea level,, 2011
Acrylic on Canvas
36x36 Inches

ARTISTS2ARTISTS: A FUNDRAISING SOCIAL NETWORK FOR CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS

Read full article here.

SIETE DE AGOSTO: ALLEGORY OF A FARCE

Siete de Agosto: Allegory of a Farce
by Romulo Galicano
June 7 - 25, 2011

Tall Gallery
Finale Art File
Warehouse 17, La Fuerza Compound
2241 Chino Roces Avenue (Pasong Tamo)
Makati City 1231

Romulo Galicano's latest Gesamkunstwerk tackles a timely event in Philippine cultural and social life. Siete de Agosto: Allegory of a Farce is an elegant critique of the death of integrity in the process of determining the National Artist Awards (NAA) due to executive interference, and symbolized by the demonstration of the art community in front of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) on August 7, 2009. It is this event that Galicano has magisterially captured in allegorical form that captures both the pathos and farcical vanity in search for artistic nobility that haunts the system and its players today.

NATION’S FIRST GAY MUSEUM OPENS DOORS IN SAN FRANCISCO

Read full article here.

BAG-ONG HINAN-AW

Bag-Ong Hinan-Aw
Viewing Tradition in a New Way
June 7 to 25, 2011

Group Exhibition
PUBLIO BRIONES JR.
CARLOS FLORIDO
JONATHAN GALICANO
LUTHER GALICANO II
FLORENTINO IMPAS JR.
FACUNDO TALLO JR.
JOSE VILLADOLID

Finale Art File
Warehouse 17, La Fuerza Compound
2241 Chino Roces Avenue (Pasong Tamo)
Makati City 1231

Unique to Cebuano contemporary figurative artists is a sense of disciplined craftsmanship imbibed from an academic tradition: tonal value, composition, and naturalistic rendering retain the key standards that they once occupied a century ago, and passed down from one maestro to the next. In this case, it was Carcar-based Martino Abellana (1914-1988), who was taught by Fernando Amorsolo at UP Manila in the 1930s; and who in turn taught Sofronio Y. Mendoza, a.k.a. Sym, and Romulo “Molong” Galicano in Carcar in the 1950s and Sixties. Since the Eighties, a group of emerging and senior Cebuano artists have gravitated around Galicano’s leadership, which emphasized both traditional standards of representational painting, and its fusion with modern conceptual even abstract approaches, asserting a middle path through which contemporary art can retain its contextual vibrancy, social effect, and aesthetic intellect.

ARTISTS AND GALLERIES AROUND THE WORLD BAND TOGETHER TO SEND JAPAN EARTHQUAKE RELIEF

Read full article here.

REPETITION

REPETITION
Mixed Media Paintings
BRENDALE ASINAS TADEO

Alliance Française de Manille (AFM), and in cooperation with Art Cabinet Philippine is pleased to present REPETITION, a solo exhibit of mixed media paintings by contemporary visual artist Brendale Asinas Tadeo.

Repetition is the act of repeating actions, performances, productions or presentations. In this new body of works the artist investigates the sample parallelisms of customs between generations of families through family portraits. Traditions, whether good or bad, are repeated in minute detail from one generation to the next. Tadeo’s paintings attempt to capture the act of handing down family values from one generation to the other, and relates this repetition to the bigger picture of Philippine society.

The artist believes that the home or the family, which is the smallest but also the most influential unit of society practices and preserves its values and customs. He considers the family as the root of the entire Filipino social phenomenon, and the key to how Philippine society works. The paintings attempt to portray the role of each member of the family, and the customs and traditions that influence the manner of decision making.

Brendale Asinas Tadeo was born in 1987 in Zambales, Philippines. His work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions: Machinas (2010, NOVA Gallery), Petit Format (2011, CCP), Tutuk Anobayani (2010, CCP), Penumbra (2010, Blanc Gallery), Yari (2010, UP Vargas Museum), Everyday Filipino Heroes (2010, UP Vargas Museum), Tutok SOeNA (2009, Manila Contemporary, Artist in Review (2009, CASA San Miguel, Zambales), Tutok KKK (2008, Blanc Gallery), Tutok Kasaysayang (2007, Artspace Glorietta), Tutok Dos por Dos (2007, Boston Gallery), Tagtagepnep (2005, CASA San Miguel, Zambales).

In 2010, Tadeo won the 2nd Prize in the Oil/Acrylic Category of the 43rd Shell National Students Art Competition. He was a finalist in the 1st PNOC Painting Competition and the 25th Visual Art National Competition that same year. He is the resident artist at Casa San Miguel, Zambales where he teaches art and crafts. He is a member of Anino Shadowplay Collective and Anino Zambales.

Repetition is co-presented by Art Cabinet Philippines, which organizes projects and exhibits on Philippine visual arts and culture in partnership with various organizations (www.artcabinetphilippines.com)

Brendale Asinas Tadeo’s exhibition “Repetition” opens on Tuesday, June 7, 2011, at the Total Gallery of the Alliance Française de Manille, with cocktails at 6:30pm to 9pm only. The exhibit runs until June 30, 2011. For high resolution images of the artworks and more details about the exhibit, kindly contact Mr. Earl Parco (AFM Cultural Officer) at 895 7441 / 895 7585 or email cultural@alliance.ph, or visit the AFM website at www.alliance.ph.

ART IS HAVING A SENIOR MOMENT

Read full article here.

EL GUERNICA: DECONSTRUCCION

AYALA MUSEUM AND SPANISH EMBASSY TIE UP FOR REINTERPRETATION OF PICASSO'S GUERNICA

Ayala Museum and the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines will be presenting an exhibition entitled "El Guernica: Deconstrucción" at the Ground Floor Gallery of Ayala Museum. It will be available for public viewing beginning 7 June until 7 August 2011.

The Philippines and Spain are two countries with a long historical relationship, with strong connections still present in our language, customs, traditions, culture, and art.

"El Guernica: Deconstrucción" takes a different angle to that relationship through new works of art by a pool of selected Filipino and Spanish contemporary artists who will hold a "dialogue" with Pablo Picasso's painting, Guernica. Based on a grid image of the Guernica from an edition of the Revista Poesía dedicated to the said work, participating artists will choose portions of the artwork to interpret. All these works will be assembled and installed together.

This exhibition also follows through last year's highly successful "El Prado Project: Dialogue with the Masters," where Filipino and Spanish artists also re-interpreted masterful artworks housed at the Museo Nacional del Prado in Spain.

"El Guernica: Deconstrucción" is sponsored by Mapfre Insular Insurance Corporation, Indra Sistemas, and Instituto de Turismo de España (TURESPAÑA). Additional support was provided by Museo Reina Sofía, Narciso Abril, Carlos Alberdi, Manuel Borja-Villel, Andres Soria, Fernando Muñoz and Javier Menéndez.

Ayala Museum is located at Makati Avenue

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS IN EL GUERNICA: DECONSTRUCCIÓN

Philippines/Philippine-based

Ma. Victoria “Ambie” Abaño Nunelucio Alvarado Virgillio Aviado Pablo Baen Santos Cesar Caballero Charlie Co Igan d’Bayan Reynold de la Cruz Antipas Delotavo Ramon Diaz Ferdinand Doctolero Alfredo Esquillo Roedil Geraldo Dennis Gonzales Noell El Farol Willy Tadeo Layug Manuel Ocampo Mervy Pueblo Roberto M.A. Robles Juvenal Sanso Cesare A.X. Syjuco Toto Tarrosa Benjie Torrado Cabrera Betsy Westendorp Jaime Zobel de Ayala

Spain

Baylón José Manuel Broto Ricardo Cadenas Ceesepe Chema Cobo José Cobo Alberto Corazón Cristián Domecq Cesar Fernández Arias Belén Franco Carlos Franco Alberto García Alix Gloria García-Lorca Jacobo Gavira Luis Gordillo Begoña Goyenechea Menchu Lamas Noni Lazaga Jaime Lorente Eva Lootz Antonio Novillo Montserrat de Pablo Antón Patiño Carlos Pazos Manolo Quejido Gloria Rodríguez Manuel Salinas Juan Ugalde

MALE MODEL BEHIND MONA LISA, EXPERTS CLAIM

Read full article here.

RIZALIZING THE FUTURE

RIZALizing the Future
June 3 – October 29, 2011

Jose Rizal (1861 – 1896) is an integral part of the Filipino psyche, with his iconic image and enduring spirit seen in all aspects of our culture, landscape, and daily life. To mark the 150th anniversary of Rizal’s birth and the 100th anniversary of the Yuchengco Group of Companies, the Yuchengco Museum presents RIZALizing the Future, an exhibit rendering our National Hero in a more popular light. The show surveys the industries, brands, movements, and directions that have pointed to Rizal as their root of inspiration, and challenges visitors to imbibe and carry on Rizal’s spirit.


OPENING PARTY
Friday, June 3,
8:00 p.m.
RCBC Plaza Courtyard

Join us for our opening courtyard party and bazaar for RIZALizing the Future! If you love Rizal, Pinoy pop culture, or just a good party, the RCBC Plaza Courtyard is the place to be on June 3, Friday. Bring your friends, and be one of the first to see the exhibit.

Groove to DJ music, grab a drink from our cash bar, savor our special RIZALizing the Future coffee blend, enjoy Noli Me Tangere-inspired cuisine from select food vendors, and shop for Rizal books and pop merchandise. The event is free and open to everyone. (Our courtyard party is the first of several Nights of Rizal events, so follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates.)

RIZALizing the Future is on view until October 29. The Yuchengco Museum is located at RCBC Plaza, corner Ayala and Sen. Gil Puyat Avenues, Makati City. Museum hours are Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call 889-1234 or e-mail info@yuchengcomuseum

ABSENCE

ABOUT FACE

EXPLORING THE idea that the face represents the persona with which one confronts the world and how penetrable these public facades can be, Lopez Memorial Museum features works by contemporary artists xVRx, Renan Ortiz, Louie Talents and Alvin Zafra.

These include works by Juan Luna, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, Macario Vitalis, Fabian de la Rosa, Vicente Manansala, Juvenal Sanso, Fernando Amorsolo, Benedicto Cabrera, Fernando Zobel and the extensive Rizaliana holdings in light of the 150th birth commemoration of Dr. Jose Rizal.

As the museum has established a reputation for being a repository of Lunas and Hidalgos and rare Filipiniana, museum curatorial consultant Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez said that the artists were asked to “consider images within the museum and library archive collections in taking on the proposed theme.” She added “The intention is to have contemporary artists look upon the practice of pictorially rendering personage as a means of circulating a persona or a public face, as opposed to a repressed alter ego or possibly a totally fictitious avatar.”

The featured artists used and incorporated portraits including the less explored aspects of the collection such as its Rizaliana holdings and its LVN still archives, among others.

Zafra who has exhibited his work in various galleries in the Philippines as well as in Tokyo, Taipei, Singapore and Hong Kong, did a portrait of President Emilio Aguinaldo that he found in the book "I Shot the Presidents” by Honesto Vitug. He said that “I use my fingernails as drawing medium on fine sandpaper. .. It's blank. You only see his upper garment and some elements of the background where the photo was taken. I think of it as a reaction to my own art practice as well.”

Ortiz , who was awarded the Sinugdanan Grant by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in 2007, takes on Rizal and Indio-Spanish dialectics in three multimedia installations cutting across the museum’s galleries.

Talents who was awarded a scholarship grant from the Ecole Nationale Superieure Des Beaux- Arts and the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts Best Thesis Award, also mounted a multimedia work exploring notions of itinerancy and registration of self in relation to sacred verse and texts by Rizal. He called his installation ‘Playing with Matchsticks’. He said: “The burning as part of my process resonates since my method combines a technical meditative approach and a childhood penchant for burning as a device to decorate the edges of cards.”

xVRx who has participated in arts festivals and residency programs such as Outlooke Pointe Foundation and AX (is) Art Project Baguio City, shows a stenciled portrait of an old man, dually alluding to images of everyday life repurposed and sited surreptitiously in luminal urban space.

About Face opens on June 2 and will run until August 27, 2011. For more info, visit www.lopez-museum.org or call 631-2417.

BUDGET WOES CAUSE UNIVERSITY TO SELL JACKSON POLLOCK?

Read full article here.