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SNIPPETS FROM THE MANILA ART SCENE After disappearing for a year, spending six months of 2010 in an Asian Cultural Council grant in New York, Lyra Garcellano has come back with wonderful new work. In Epistolary, her solo exhibit at Finale Art File, Lyra has treated us to five paintings she describes as imprints. Faint figures whisper from her canvases, barely discernible through her loose pastel strokes. LEEROY NEW | SNIPPETS FROM THE MANILA ART SCENE Artesan’s packed program includes the awarding of artist residencies. Every year, one of the three winners of the Ateneo Art Awards gets a chance at this grant, and consequently, exhibit in Artesan. Leeroy New, the 2009 winner, had just completed his, and his work makes up part of the exhibit currently on view at the gallery. Ronald Ventura curated Alter Peace and Formation, a group show

MARCH OF THE PIGS

Posts about march of the pigs written by manilaartblogger. I got lost getting to LOST. I made a wrong turn the first time I dropped in on LOST Projects, Manila’s newest alternative art space. I came two days before the venue formally opened, and the sign outside had still

been covered up.

BEA ALCALA | SNIPPETS FROM THE MANILA ART SCENE Bea Alcala, "Here Be Demons", detail. Bea Alcala, "Here Be Demons". While Lou stripped off our outsides, Paola Germar focused on dressing our insides. In Innerwear, she has clothed stuffed versions of internal organs in frills and flounces. They hang inside glass vitrines, quite attractive but perhaps, need to be. PETER JAMES D FANTINALGO Bacolod native, painter Charlie Co runs Gallery Orange, a downtown space for homegrown talent.We caught Illusion Allusion by Peter James D. Fantinalgo at one of the gallery’s three exhibit areas. He exhibited photorealistic paintings that showcase his skill at trompe l’oeil, and an interesting set that incorporated imprints of his jeans. At the upper level, Guen Decena mounted an

ROBERT LANGENEGGER

It must be the season for group shows. The third one I’ve seen this month, Hate Mail, at Manila Contemporary, is the second in a series of exhibits that, per the wall text, “looks at visual linguistics in relation to communicating fundamental human emotions”It comes after Love Letters, which the gallery, fittingly enough, mounted close to

Valentine’s Day.

ALFREDO ESQUILLO

Dawn, the younger sister of Mark Justiniani, grew up with the arts and artists. Even as she held an office job, she started dealing in art pieces. Soon enough, Tin-Aw Arts Management represented Mark, Joy Mallari, Ferdie Montemayor, and a bit later on, Alfredo Esquillo Jr.. Thus, the need for a permanent base.

HANNA PETTYJOHN

Hanna Pettyjohn, "Fate, Tx", aerial map of Texas. In this exhibit, we see Hanna (now 27) completing what she had set out to do on that Texas sojourn: discover herself by putting together her family’s story. Year of Glad celebrates 2010 as the year Hanna culminates this journey

of self-discovery.

JULY | 2010 | SNIPPETS FROM THE MANILA ART SCENE Other standouts: The Drawing Room, Silverlens/SLab, Galleria Duemila, Art Informal.. Art fair veterans, Silverlens/SLab and the The Drawing Room knew exactly how to highlight their stable of artists. The Drawing Room went back to their roots and exhibited works on paper plus a reprised Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan.. I loved Jojo Legaspi’s dark, bleak pastel landscapes and Kawayan de Guia’s POLETEISMO | SNIPPETS FROM THE MANILA ART SCENE August 4, 2011. At first I was inclined to dismiss the debate as a tempest in a teapot. But when my favorite daily read ( www.artdaily.com) carried the story of the furor over Mideo Cruz’s piece, Poleteismo, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, I

thought I had

MARCH OF THE PIGS

been covered up.

ROBERT LANGENEGGER

Valentine’s Day.

ALFREDO ESQUILLO

HANNA PETTYJOHN

of self-discovery.

thought I had

SNIPPETS FROM THE MANILA ART SCENE After disappearing for a year, spending six months of 2010 in an Asian Cultural Council grant in New York, Lyra Garcellano has come back with wonderful new work. In Epistolary, her solo exhibit at Finale Art File, Lyra has treated us to five paintings she describes as imprints. Faint figures whisper from her canvases, barely discernible through her loose pastel strokes. POLETEISMO | SNIPPETS FROM THE MANILA ART SCENE Posts about poleteismo written by manilaartblogger. At first I was inclined to dismiss the debate as a tempest in a teapot. But when my favorite daily read (www.artdaily.com) carried the story of the furor over Mideo Cruz’s piece, Poleteismo, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, I thought I had better make time to see for myself what

the fuss was about.

ALFREDO ESQUILLO

OSCAR FLOIRENDO

Oscar Floirendo, "Pinagdaanan, Pinagdadaanan, Pagdadaanan". this above a river of brown sugar. He has poured sugar on the bridge’s joints just as a mason would use cement to seal gaps. He works from Dumaguete and this piece reflects on sugar as both the lifeblood of Negros as

well as its curse.

ATENEO ART GALLERY AT 50: LEE AGUINALDO AND MODERN Fifty years ago, Fernando Zobel, artist and heir to one of the country’s industrial fortunes, donated his art collection to the Ateneo de Manila University. The university used his pieces, mostly paintings by the best of the Filipino moderns (including a few of his own), to form the nucleus of the Ateneo Art Gallery. At SANTI BOSE | SNIPPETS FROM THE MANILA ART SCENE Santi Bose’s name conjures images in my mind of a mythical artist: hip, bohemian, devil-may-care. I never met him, and only encountered his work after he had passed away. I remember walking into the third floor gallery of the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2004, where curator Bobi Valenzuela had mounted a retrospective of his pieces, and

being blown away.

SOLOMON SAPRID

Arellano.. Check out the photos and let the show speak for itself. The pieces make the slow crawl to Taft Avenue worthwhile. Iskultura runs from 9 July to 11 December 2009 at The Museum at De La Salle University, 2F Yuchengco Bldg, Taft Ave, Manila. LEEROY NEW RAISES A BALETE WHILE KIRI DALENA REPEATS Leeroy New next to his Balete tree. “ Ang Galing !”. In Balete, Leeroy wraps the posts of the gallery’s facade with his version of a Balete tree, one constructed from cable lines , flexible tubing used for electric conduits. Accented by plastic cable ties, the tree twists and turns between the building’s columns, simulating the gnarling GERALDINE JAVIER’S WILD THINGS Nothing ever appears haphazard in a Geraldine Javier exhibit. Every element is carefully considered for cohesiveness, nary a detail out of place. Always Wild, Still Wild, now on view at Finale Art File, demonstrates this yet again. Ghe’s latest works combine her excellent painting skills with the old fashioned craft of tatting, a

19th century

MARK SALVATUS

The exhibit’s title did puzzle me, but it should have clued me in. Clint Eastwood in Hats On, Bottoms Off shows works inspired by Westerns—the cowboys and Indians variety, an odd, unexpected choice of concepts. But a chat with artist Allan Balisi, who had thought this up with Cos Zicarelli, revealed that there is nothing more to this than a bunch of cowboy movie enthusiasts getting SNIPPETS FROM THE MANILA ART SCENE

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MANILA ART BLOGGER’S NEW SITE

October 4, 2011

After three years, I thought I’d spruce things up a bit. Please check out my new site at http://www.manilaartblogger.com . Hope you continue to follow me as I chronicle Manila’s art scene!

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Posted by manilaartblogger ------------------------- LYRA GARCELLANO’S EPISTOLARY

September 6, 2011

Lyra Garcellano, "Aria" After disappearing for a year, spending six months of 2010 in an ASIAN CULTURAL COUNCIL grant in New York, LYRA GARCELLANO has come back with wonderful new work. In _Epistolary_, her solo exhibit at FINALE ART FILE, Lyra has treated us to five paintings she describes as imprints. Faint figures whisper from her canvases, barely discernible through her loose pastel strokes. All of women, their floral frocks blur into the background, creating sheer, almost abstract, patterns. Her paintings have always stood out for their delicacy and softness, and evoke a sense of romantic melancholia. This set keeps to that sensibility, progressing naturally from her previous pieces. To me, they seem to project a more confident Lyra. Lyra Garcellano, "Etcetera" The show runs as one of three, all by women artists. At Finale’s Tall Gallery, KEIYE MIRANDA TUAZON has turned portraits into giant lockets for her show _Strangely Familiar. _MARIJA VICENTE, meanwhile, has taken over the gallery’s Video Room. Lyra Garcellano, "Pentimento" _Epistolary by Lyra Garcellano, Strangely Familiar by Keiye Miranda Tuazon, and something something by Marija Vicente run from 2 to 27 September 2011 at Finale Art File, Warehouse 17, La Fuerza Compound, 2241 Pasong Tamo, Makati City. Phone (632) 813-2310 or visit http://www.finaleartfile.com _ Lyra Garcellano, "Aria" and "Mise-en-Scene" Lyra Garcellano, "Enamore" Keiye Miranda Tuazon's locket portraits Marija Vicente, "something something", exhibit installation view

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Posted by manilaartblogger ------------------------- SUN YUAN AND PENG YU’S HONG KONG INTERVENTION, ALFREDO + ISABEL AQUILIZAN’S ADDRESS, AND SANDRA PALOMAR AND NOLET SOLIVEN’S FLESH

AT UP VARGAS

September 2, 2011

Artists Sandra Palomar and Sun Yuan I’m a big fan of Chinese artists SUN YUAN and PENG YU. Ever since I saw _Angel_, a hyper realistic sculpture of a dead angel splayed on the ground, I have sought to keep abreast of their work. Made from silica gel and fiberglass, the most striking feature possessed by the wrinkled seraphim is a pair of molted wings. His feathers have withered away, and instead, he is left with wings of flesh and bone; they resemble chicken wings after they’ve been dressed. I saw it when it came up for auction last year. Hong Kong Intervention, installation view Another celebrated piece, _Old Persons Home_, also works with silica gel and fiberglass fabricated by the pair into elderly personages. In this one, the artists assembled a group of world leaders (Churchill and Arafat, to name a few), sculpted as doddering and drooling ancients on electric wheelchairs. Famously exhibited at the SAATCHI GALLERY in London, the figures would occasionally bump into one another as their wheelchairs moved about the space. Hong Kong Intervention, installation view When I heard that the duo would bring one of their more recent pieces to Manila, I made sure to make the time to meet them. They have worked together to produce a whole range of work, frequently causing controversy for their audacious use of materials (baby cadavers and human fat). Unfortunately, only Mr. Sun travelled to Manila. Ms. Peng could not get a visa in time, and stayed in China. _Hong Kong Intervention_, from 2009, and reprised at the 2010 Sydney Biennale, currently runs Hong Kong Intervention, installation view at the JORGE B. VARGAS MUSEUM in UP. A project that involved 200 Filipino domestics in Hong Kong, the piece debuted at OSAGE, a gallery for contemporary art in the SAR. It is through the cooperation of the OSAGE FOUNDATION that this work made it to Manila. Perhaps, this counts as one of the duo’s tamer pieces, but it does ring close to

home.

Hong Kong Intervention, detail For this piece, the artists gave each of the Filipino OFWs a toy grenade. The _Pinoys_ stuck their grenades around the houses they work in and then photographed them. They paired each of their resulting photos with one of themselves with their backs turned, concealing their identities from viewers. One gets a thrill out of looking over the photographs mounted on the Vargas Museum walls. You feel like an intruder allowed a forbidden peek, or an eavesdropper who unwittingly stumbles on an intimate conversation. It is also fascinating to examine the images, guessing at the lifestyles suggested by the spaces. In a sense, this mischievous piece captures the _Pinoy_ penchant for _chismis_, for making _uzi_, for the unwarranted way we stick our noses into other people’s business. If only the _amos_ knew what their household helpers were up to when they weren’t around! Hong Kong Intervention, detail _Address, _a piece by another artistic tandem, has been mounted at the museum’s lobby. This one, by ____ALFREDO + ISABEL AQUILIZAN, touches on the process of migration, an issue frequently tackled by these two artists. It is one familiar to the subjects of _Hong Kong Intervention_. The two exhibits relate to each other through this

common thread.

Hong Kong Intervention, detail In _Address_, we see rows of _balikbayan_ boxes set beside what we presume to be rows of their contents, all precisely arranged. They signify life stories reduced and compressed into cubes, transported and transposed into alien territories. SANDRA PALOMAR and NOLET SOLIVEN have installed _Flesh_ at the museum’s third floor space. The exhibit illustrates their reactions to work in the Vargas Museum collection. They deliberately chose two nudes made by uncelebrated artists (_Nude Study,_ Marcelino Sanchez, 1935 and _Sultana, _Antonio Dumlao, undated), and dictionaries that translate Filipino tribal dialects. Alfredo + Isabel Aquilizan, "Address" Nolet’s _Fleshcape_ dominates the space, bisecting the room. He draws and paints magnified impressions of female body parts on both sides of a long sheet of paper. Sandra’s _Reflection Piece 001 _stands between this and the Sanchez painting. One is meant to peep inside to see refracted impressions of both the nude and Nolet’s

work.

Another view, Alfredo + Isabel Aquilizan, "Address" On the other end of Nolet’s drawing, _Sultana _is posed atop a set of drawers. Arranged inside the drawers are the dictionaries, vintage photographs of tribal Filipinos, an image of NORA AUNOR, and some sculpture. Like the_ kayumanggi_ in the painting, the assortment celebrates our Filipino ethnicity. _Interview and translation exercise 001_ is a video by Sandra. It includes the written recollection of a young Manobo’s initial experiences in Manila. A transplant into the capital city, he too is a migrant— like the domestics photographed for _Hong Kong Intervention_. He knows only too well the displacement explored by the Aquilizans in _Address_. Nolet Soliven, "Fleshscape", detail _Hong Kong Intervention, Address, and Flesh run from 31 August to 29 October 2011 at The Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center, Roxas Ave., University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. __Phone (632) 928-1927 or visit __http://www.vargasmuseum.org_ At right, Marcelino Sanchez, "Nude Study" Antonio Dumlao, "Sultana" over an open set of drawers A peek inside "Reflection Piece 001" Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, "Angel", image from Christies.com Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, "Old Persons Home", image from rebelart.net

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Posted by manilaartblogger ------------------------- MANILART 11: ART IN THE DARK

August 27, 2011

Tatong Recheta Torres, "Untitled" at Art Informal The invitation said be there at six, and I thought I’d be fashionably late. I arrived close to seven pm, wondering if I could get away with not strictly following the Filipiniana dress code. I need not have stressed. I got there to find the venue in darkness, tons of people jostling about in the sidelines, trying to get past usherettes standing guard, preventing guests from crossing the red cordon that ringed the venue. Apparently, the ribbon had yet to be cut. Music blared from a stage at the far end where song and dance numbers were going on. Was this an art fair? The crowds could but peer at the pieces on display as tempers flared. Incredibly, this state of affairs continued for an hour and a half, until the last politician had given what sounded like filibuster from a privilege speech. Only then did the lights come on. A surreal, truly chaotic, _Only in da Pilipins,_ tableau unfolded on the _vernissage_ of our city’s sole art fair. Dex Fernandez, "Suspend" series at Pablo This opening night debacle definitely cast a pall on MANILART 11. On paper, this fair seemed to have everything going for it. The organizers scaled it down to 24 galleries but set aside bigger spaces for each participant. They chose to mount it at the highly accessible NBC TENT at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. And once the lights turned on, I could tell that my favorite galleries prepared new pieces especially for the event. The physical arrangements, though, seemed to diminish their efforts. Leeroy New's solo exhibit "Terrorium" at Manila Contemporary MANILA CONTEMPORARY, for instance, opted for a solo show by LEEROY NEW. He brought in freestanding hybrid creatures, lit from within hallowed out bellies filled with multi-colored plastic toys. The gallery, however, could not get permission to paint the walls of their booth. Why? Leeroy’s work deserved a proper setting. Leeroy New, "Terrarium IX" at Manila Contemporary PABLO got around this restriction by bringing their own panels to the fair. A wise choice as, once again, they had the best booth. But why would they have to resort to that? They carried works by DEX FERNANDEZ, JASON MOSS, and the fantastic duo of IVAN DESPI and PAULINE VICENCIO. The booth’s layout managed to squeeze in a room where Ivan and Pauline’s video, _Babel_, played. I’d love to see what else these two come up with. Exciting things seem to be in store for this talented twosome. Ivan Despi and Pauline Vicencio, "Babel", video still at Pablo Dex exhibited his _Suspend_ series, a variation on his manipulated photographs. This time he altered his photos with cut outs—patterns he painted and illustrated then cut and pasted onto

his images.

Maria Jeona Zoleta at Finale MARIA JEONA ZOLETA lorded it at FINALE’S booth. She made the gallery stand out in neon pink glory. BLANC brought out new pieces by ART SANCHEZ, an impressive LAO LIANBIEN, and various LOUIE CORDERO paintings on canvas and on paper. I just love Louie’s kitschy, _Pinoy komiks_, over the top, slasher aesthetic. ART INFORMAL had a wonderful new TATONG RECHETA TORRES. We must really welcome Tatong back into his first life— and never allow him to leave again! SILVERLENS, the art fair pros, simply knew how to work their booth. Patty Eustaquio’s _Diving Bell (Cloud Country)_ took center stage, a teaser for her upcoming show. They also had pieces by LESLIE DE CHAVEZ, RYAN VILLAMAEL, CHATI CORONEL, ISA LORENZO, and pyrographs on wood by MARIANO CHING. As always, Nano

rocks!

Mariano Ching, "Pillars Series 3" at Silverlens New discoveries: JACOB LINDO at Silverlens with his small graphite works, and CARINA SANTOS at WEST GALLERY. She exhibited Joseph Cornell-like boxed assemblages using sliced books. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of those. Lee Amante, Rachel Rillo, and Isa Lorenzo beside Elaine Navas, "Polidori's Sofa" at Silverlens By Jacob Lindo, "Avoid Rivers, Strivers, and Voyeurs" at Silverlens Speaking of West Gallery, they seem to have been the only ones who came prepared with a handout that detailed their available pieces. It also outlined a schedule of their upcoming shows. Over at DUEMILA, a very tame, almost pretty, MIDEO CRUZ painting hung

on one wall.

CANVAS debuted a novel initiative utilizing the iPad. _Rizalpabeto_ borrows from the tradition of _Letras Y Figuras_, a 19thcentury art form whereby artists rendered letters of the alphabet, usually to spell out a patron’s name, in stylized forms. Jay Pacena and Marika Constantino, curators of Rizalpabeto project This project celebrates Jose Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary. VIM NADERA composed a poem on the National Hero, one verse for each letter of the alphabet. ELMER BORLONGAN executed a _letra _for each of the verses, but did this completely on his iPad. A colonial genre has been taken to the 21st century. My verdict on ManilArt 11? A handful of galleries spent time and effort to bring out new works for collectors to acquire. I found pieces that I did want to take home, more this time than in the last two fairs. Nothing groundbreaking, as the galleries played it safe. They predominantly kept to the two-dimensional and wall-bound. A good number of the participants, though, as in the past, seemed to have simply emptied their backrooms. Elmer Borlongan's "K" from the "Rizalpabeto" project Dr. Joven Cuanang at Boston Gallery. He sits on a piece by Plet

Bolipata

The flimsy fixtures gave the fair a shabby air. Unfortunately, the galleries who worked to spruce up their spaces could not overcome this overall impression. It felt like a bazaar. And as much as I preferred the NBC Tent’s accessibility, it probably isn’t suited

to this event.

Did the fair mirror our dynamic art scene? Unfortunately not. Neither did it seek to educate and elevate standards. A pity, and a missed opportunity, as judging by the number of people that took the time to drop by, ManilArt 11 captured quite an audience. _ManilArt 11 runs from 24 to 27 August 2011 at the NBC Tent, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Visit http://www.manilart.com

_

Secret Fresh

_ _

Elmer Borlongan, "Duyan Sa Kwarto" at Boston Gallery

Jason Moss at Pablo

Pablo's installation Pancho Francisco, Marina Cruz, and Rodel Tapaya at Art Informal Patty Eustaquio, "Diving Bell (Cloud Country)" at Silverlens Leslie de Chavez, "Hungry Gods" at Silverlens Kaloy Sanchez, "Untitled" at Paseo Gallery Gabby Barredo at Art Verite Lynyrd Paras, "Huwag Mong Sirain Ang Isang Bagay Na Totoo" at Art

Verite

Pow Martinez and Soler Santos by West Gallery space Jigger Cruz, "Plinth for the Psychedelics" at West Gallery West Gallery installation Art Sanchez, "Impermanence 1" at Blanc Janet Balbarona and her painting at Blanc Louie Cordero with Eric Encinares of The Sleepyheads Louie Cordero, "Space Is The Haze" at Blanc Louie Cordero, " Magnovelzum", "Arvidzwarn", and "Masangoturp"at Blanc

Blanc installation

Photos by Rudolf Schwarkogler at Galerie Zimmerman Krachtowill Pieces by Robert Langenegger at the Galerie Zimmerman Krachtowill At Galleria Duemila, paintings by Romina Diaz and Mideo Cruz Rodel Tapaya, "Camp Scene No. 1", oil on acrylic with chrome frame at

Blueline

In the neighborhood: Sonny Angara, Louie Bate, Jia and Gabby Estrella Andres Barrioquinto, "Twin Shadow" at Blueline Winner Jumalon, "Pause" at Blueline

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Posted by manilaartblogger ------------------------- POW MARTINEZ DESTROYS PLANETS

August 24, 2011

POW MARTINEZ liberally throws around the word _astig_. He uses it nonchalantly, with a casual shrug. Pow Martinez, "Punk House #1", detail Exhibit installation view GEORGE CONDO, the American artist who paints caricature-like figures with pursed lips, bulging eyes, and scrunched up heads? He’s _astig_. PHILIP GUSTON and his cartoonish renderings? Yup, him too. Ditto the Scottish animator DAVID SHRIGLEY, and provocateur DASH SNOW, he of the hedonistic lifestyle who died of an overdose two years ago. On the local front, the word is reserved for the likes of MANUEL OCAMPO and JAYSON OLIVERIA, purveyors of chaotic and sexually

explicit images.

Clearly, the inclinations of this boyish, 28-year-old Ateneo Art Awards winner do not lean towards order and discipline, or anything remotely intense. He admits that his decision to become an artist stemmed from a distaste for academic work. “_Hindi ako mahilig mag-aral_”, a realization that prompted him to attempt UP COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS. He discovered that that too required some sort of effort. Pow moved to KALAYAAN COLLEGE’S program after UP kicked him out for his grades (“_Sumobra sa inom at sa jutes_!”). Pow Martinez, "Earth 3040 1" While in Kalayaan, classmate and friend, ROBERT LANGENEGGER, drew him to the independent art space BIG SKY MIND where ROBERTO CHABET, the iconic UP professor and former director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, conducted workshops and lectures. Pow Martinez, "Earth 3040 2" “_Para siyang_ Jedi Master”, Pow describes Chabet, considered by Manila’s art community as the pioneer of Philippine conceptual art. Here he found kindred spirits. “I realized na _puede_ _pala yung ganun_, _yung _art _na_ impolite, _na_ messy. _Yung art na gusto

ko._”

Initially, Pow was drawn to more conceptual works, producing sound installations that jive with his predilection for punk music. He decided to paint two years ago, filling his canvases with thick dabs and smears of brightly colored paint, with crude figures that gravitate to the lowbrow, a nod to German artist JONATHAN MEESE (another _astig_). He called his paintings ridiculous. But that 2009 exhibit at WEST GALLERY, _1 Billion Years_, wowed the Ateneo Art Awards panel of jurors for its refreshing move away from the photorealistic images that permeated the auction circuit. Three more solo exhibits have since followed: _Hyper Blast Abominations_ in MAG: NET and _March of the Pigs_ at LOST PROJECTS in

2010,

Pow Martinez, "Wreck Yard #1" and "Wreck Yard #2" and _Cut Hands Has The Solution_, a return to West Gallery early this year. In between, Pow has been featured in numerous group shows. He also participated in a survey of contemporary Philippine art organized by Manuel Ocampo for the FREIES MUSEUM in Berlin last October. He laughingly recalls how one of the museum visitors told him that his work was the worst painting he had ever seen in his life. “Ok _lang ‘yon_. I want my paintings to take up your space. _Na touch ko pa rin siya._” _Destroyed Planets, _Pow’s solo exhibit at PABLO FORT, has drawings, paintings, an installation piece, and featured a performance from Pow on opening night. His paintings and drawings keep to his cluttered, rough, and raunchy aesthetic, but play with more abstracted forms. For someone with such a laidback, relaxed approach to art, Pow counts among the busiest of today’s young visual artists. Concurrent to the Pablo show, he has a two-person exhibt at DAGC GALLERY, and has works on view at NOW GALLERY. He draws every day, filling sketchbooks in the Commonwealth Avenue studio he shares with girlfriend and fellow artist, MARIA JEONA ZOLETA. There is an authenticity that emanates from Pow’s work despite his seemingly inconsequential subjects. He brushes off his success, almost as if it were accidental, even irrelevant. He would not do things any other way. As he scans the half-finished canvases that lean against the walls, Pow describes the essence of what he hopes to convey: “What if_ gago ang mundo_?” Is that _astig _or what? Pow Martinez, "Destroyed Planet #3", detail _Destroyed Planets runs from 20 August to 24 September 2011 at Pablo Fort, Unit C-11 South of Market Condominium, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Phone (632) 5060602 or visit http://www.pablogalleries.com _ _An edited version of this post appears in the August 2011 issue of Rogue Magazine. See http://www.rogue.ph _

__

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Posted by manilaartblogger ------------------------- SNIPPETS FROM THE BACOLOD ART SCENE

August 23, 2011

Gallery Orange

Amidst wandering through marvelous old mansions, faded reminders of a genteel past, and overindulging in muscovado-laced delicacies, a cultural tour of Bacolod included glimpses of the city’s contemporary arts landscape. The scene seems to gravitate towards two venues, at least as far as I could tell from a three-day stay. At Gallery Orange entrance Bacolod native, painter CHARLIE CO runs GALLERY ORANGE, a downtown space for homegrown talent. We caught _Illusion Allusion_ by PETER JAMES D. FANTINALGO at one of the gallery’s three exhibit areas. He exhibited photorealistic paintings that showcase his skill at _trompe l’oeil_, and an interesting set that incorporated imprints of his jeans. At the upper level, GUEN DECENA mounted an installation she calls _Constant Point of Vanishing_. Both just in their twenties, their efforts are admittedly raw, but do display earnest attempts at working with their Peter James D. Fantinalgo with one of his paintings concepts. I thought Guen’s black and white work had panache. She’s off to Manila soon, to undertake a residency with LESLIE DE CHAVEZ’S PROJECT SPACE. She’s also slated for an exhibit at ALLIANCE FRANCAISE in 2012. Guen Decena and her installation "Constant Point of Vanishing" Charlie and his wife Ann (who bakes a mean sansrival) invited us to his studio where we enjoyed perusing his drawings and checking out some of his works in progress. Peter James D. Fantinalgo, "The Realistic Idea of the Real" Illusiion Allusion installation view Peter James D. Fantinalgo, "Bequest" More paintings by Peter James D. Fantinalgo Guen Decena, "Constant Point of Vanishing", detail Guen Decena, "Constant Point of Vanishing", detail CAPITANA GALLERY occupies a section of BALAY NI TANA DICANG, a restored family home-turned museum in Talisay. The gallery operates as an extension of AVELLANA ART GALLERY. Mac Valdezco, "Pink Suit" On view, MAC VALDEZCO’S _Twin Cyclops_. As usual, Mac does wonders with ordinary materials. She came to Bacolod, foraged groceries and bookstores for supplies, and managed to put together a show using twine, non-woven cloth, _cartolina_, and plastic loops. The exhibit also includes two of her pencil patterns on canvas. Mac Valdezco, "Cloud Gatherer" Mac Valdezco, "Blue and Red Body" Mac Valdezco, "Three Legged Shadow" Mac Valdezco, "Foggy White Air" No self-respecting art lover can leave Negros without paying homage to ALFONSO OSSORIO’S _Angry Christ, _a mural from 1949, at the Chapel of St. Joseph the Worker in Victorias. We visited this treasure of Philippine modern art on our last day__ . Yes, it’s as magnificent as everybody says it is. And so are the mosaics, carvings, and metal works that complete the chapel. I have sat down with MARK JUSTINIANI several times for magazine interviews, and he has always discussed the profound influence Ossorio’s work has had on him. I can imagine the power this would wield on a young child, one inclined to the arts, who grew up playing around its environs. To finally experience its omnipotence ranks as the high point of this sojourn. Alfonso Ossorio's "Angry Christ" _Illusion Allusion and Constant Point of Vanishing run from 7 July to 31 August 2011 at Gallery Orange, 2F Annex Bldg, Lopue’s Mandalagan, Bacolod City. Phone (6334) 7090604 or visit _http://facebook.com/orange.bacolod _ Twin Cyclops New Works by Mac Valdezco runs from 17 July to 3 September 2011 at Capitana Gallery, Balay ni Tana Dicang, 36 Rizal St., Talisay City, Negros Occidental. Phone (6334) 495-2104. _ _The Chapel of St. Joseph the Worker is located inside the Victorias Milling Company compound in Victorias, Negros Occidental. _ One of Charlie Co's paintings in his studio In Charlie Co's studio, pastel on paper

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In Charlie Co's studio, a painting inspired by Cirque de Soleil Bacolod-based artists Dennis Ascalon and Charlie Co with Karen

Montinola

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Posted by manilaartblogger ------------------------- PEEWEE ROLDAN AND MAXINE SYJUCO AT NOW GALLERY

August 15, 2011

Noberto Roldan, "What Is The Color of Beauty? 2" NOW OPEN! Pasong Tamo Extension just welcomed another art space. NOW GALLERY, a venture of collector PATRICK REYNO, opened its doors last month. Together with SILVERLENS/SLAB, MANILA CONTEMPORARY, and DAGC (DEPARTMENT OF AVANT-GARDE CLICHÉS), it will cement the strip’s reputation as the place for exciting contemporary art. Now (no pun intended), if they could just all coordinate their openings! Norberto Roldan, "What Is The Color of Beauty 2", detail _NORBERTO ROLDAN: THE BEGINNING OF HISTORY AND FATAL STRATEGIES_ When TAKSU, the Southeast Asian gallery network with branches in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Bali, submitted their application for ART STAGE SINGAPORE in late 2010, they received a surprising directive from LORENZO RUDOLF, the fair director. For the high-profile 2011 debut of Asia’s newest art fair, Rudolf wanted the gallery to carry the works of only one artist from their roster: that of NORBERTO “PEEWEE” ROLDAN’S from the Philippines. “It was very stressful for me,” Peewee intimates. “They told me in October, and the fair was scheduled for January!” Norberto Roldan, "What Is the Color of Beauty 1", detail By the fair’s opening date, however, _The Beauty Of History Is That It Does Not Reside in One Place_, Peewee’s one-man show, had been wonderfully installed inside the TAKSU booth. The SINGAPORE ART MUSEUM promptly acquired one of the pieces on view. _Invisibilitus Est 1, _an assemblage anchored on an old chasuble, now joins _Faith In Sorcery, Sorcery In Faith (1+2),_a Roldan piece from 1998, in the museum’s permanent collection. Norberto Roldan, "What Is The Color Of Beauty 1", more detail Peewee creates art primarily from putting together an assortment of objects, mostly curios that ascribe to Filipino folk Catholicism. Metal amulets, _estampitas,_ _anting-antings, _and heirloom vestments are precisely arranged within specially fabricated wooden frames or panels that mimic pigeonholes. They stand juxtaposed against a variety of bibelots—old fabric, antique photographs, kitschy religious statuettes, vintage toys, brass compacts, colored glass bottles. Peewee initially culled these knickknacks from his own collection. When he had used up the lot for major exhibits in KL and Singapore in 2009, he turned to street vendors and second-hand shops in the vicinity of his Kamuning studio. Norberto Roldan, Invisibilitus Est. 4" The 58-year-old artist, who possesses degrees in Philosophy and Fine Arts, founded GREEN PAPAYA ART PROJECTS, Manila’s foremost independent art space, in 2000. He continues to run its programs. Until 2007, he also worked with ABS-CBN Merchandising, completing two stints as its Creative Director. Concurrent to his day jobs, he practiced his art, a career that began with his first solo exhibit in 1987 at HIRAYA GALLERY. Norberto Roldan, "Invisibilitus Sum 2" This month, Peewee brings out more of his boxed constructions, a continuation of his April exhibit at Green Papaya. _Invisibilitus Est. 4_, _Invisibilitus Sum No. 1_, and _Invisibilitus Sum No. 2,_ again center on old chasubles. Peewee confides how difficult these have been to come by lately. He collected vintage studio shots for both _What is the color of beauty? (1)_ and _(2),_ the two largest pieces on view. Both diptychs, the first pits the old photographs against clippings from current fashion magazines, composed with a gathering of clear and colored old bottles. For the second, he has arranged more of these photos inside boxes. Peewee has encapsulated the stories of an era within the frames inside the piece. Norberto Roldan, "What Is The Color of Faith 3" My favorite pieces in the show belong to the series _What Is The Color Of Faith_? For the three pieces that make up this group of works, Peewee resurrected devices he has used in previous works. Amulets, neon figurines, and bottles filled with herbs and finished with _carmen-carmen _(square bits of cloth pinned on garments of infants to serve as protection) form crucifixes. _Estampitas _pasted on holograms create mesmerizing repetitions. Norberto Roldan, "What Is The Color of Faith 3", detail At the center of the gallery, a hundred used bottles of perfume inside an heirloom glass cabinet and two crystal chandeliers make up the installation _Remembering My Mother’s Long Forgotten Scent._ Norberto Roldan, "What Is The Color of Faith 2" Peewee’s pieces are social commentaries, discourses on our faith and history through collectibles. “I consider objects as possessing anthropological values. I cannot use an object merely on a whim… I put together old and new objects to signify the contemporary in the old,” Peewee explains his method of classifying his assemblages. “In the end, all the objects participate in making a whole narrative…and to me that’s what makes the work art. You’re not just telling a straight narrative but you are trying to break the narrative for people to make their own…each can have their own reading of my pieces.” Norberto Roldan, "What Is The Color of Faith 1", detail Joaquin and Peewee Roldan with Triccie Luchangco and "What Is The

Color of Faith 1"

Maxine Syjuco, "Propensity for Pain" _MAXINE SYJUCO: A PROPENSITY FOR PAIN_ Quite coincidentally, the second exhibit currently running at Now has also made use of found photographs, their sepia tones complementing Peewee’s works. MAXINE SYJUCO printed a collection of discovered images on canvas. She concealed the faces in each of them, replacing visages with painted human hearts. Wooden frames that have been carved with wings complete each piece. “Because these people have long passed on,” Maxine explains, “I use the wings to set them free.” Could one also say that they have been transformed into

angels?

Maxine Syjuco, "Sans The Seven Dwarves" A sculpture of a small house atop an open book sits at the center of the room. Fabricated from wood and concrete, the doors and windows of the house stand wide open, ready to welcome Maxine’s liberated

souls.

"A Propensity For Pain" installation view Maxine Syjuco, "Prayers, Poems, Promises" _Norberto Roldan: The Beginning of History and Fatal Strategies and Maxine Syjuco: A Propensity for Pain run together with Pow Martinez: Nature Paintings from 12 August to 7 September 2011 at Now Gallery & Consulting, Unit M05, Mezzanine, Eco Plaza Bldg., 2305 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati City. Phone (632) 555-0683 or visit http://www.nowgallery.net _ _An edited version of the write-up on Peewee’s show has been published in the August 2011 issue of Town and Country Philippines. Visit http://www.facebook.com/townandcountry.ph_ Norberto Roldan, "What Is The Color of Faith 2", detail Norberto Roldan, "Remembering My Mother's Long Forgotten Scent" Norberto Roldan, "The Beginning Of History and Fatal Strategies" Norberto Roldan, "Something To Remember Me By"

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Posted by manilaartblogger -------------------------

� Previous Entries

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* ManilArt 11: Art In The Dark * Pow Martinez Destroys Planets * Snippets from the Bacolod Art Scene * Peewee Roldan and Maxine Syjuco at NOW Gallery * Ateneo Art Awards 2011: Anatomy of Autonomy * Romeo Lee and Pow Martinez Wreak Mischief and Mayhem * Brouhaha at the CCP * A Return to Megamall, Street Art at The Crucible * The Origin of Symmetry by Wesley T. Valenzuela * Riel Hilario’s Recreates the Night Sky while Neil Arvin Javier

Packs Them In

* Pete Jimenez Puts Together Body Parts * Hate Mail at Manila Contemporary

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Text

MARCH OF THE PIGS

been covered up.

ROBERT LANGENEGGER

Valentine’s Day.

ALFREDO ESQUILLO

HANNA PETTYJOHN

of self-discovery.

thought I had

MARCH OF THE PIGS

been covered up.

ROBERT LANGENEGGER

Valentine’s Day.

ALFREDO ESQUILLO

HANNA PETTYJOHN

of self-discovery.

thought I had

the fuss was about.

ALFREDO ESQUILLO

OSCAR FLOIRENDO

well as its curse.

being blown away.

SOLOMON SAPRID

19th century

MARK SALVATUS

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October 4, 2011

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